Winter's Empire
by Jamcov
Summary: Set seven years after the events of Frozen, disastrous events have taken place and an oppressive empire has arisen. A tired, lone adventurer is called upon to fight against it when a familiar face reappears in her life. It is a call she is reluctant to answer. She must either fight for what is right or be consumed by her past.
1. Chapter 1

What was left of the vile concoction this place served bubbled away in front of her, whatever it was had the basic ingredients necessary to know that happiness was at the bottom of the tankard. The more she stared at it the more it seemed to stare back, daring her to just try and finish the dregs it presented before her. Even having gotten slightly more used to the quality of the beverages she encountered on the road, there was still the remnants of a high-class tongue refusing to yield to low standards. The daily weighing up of the consequences of just leaving kicked in. It would be a mercy to her taste buds but the alternative was sobriety, which was out of the question these days. She stayed, she always stayed.

She came to this tavern immediately after a job; she had not changed out of her armour or even bothered to drop off her sword in her lodgings. The tavern itself had a rustic feel, accentuated by the wooden beams, fire place and a small but loud smattering of people. Judging from the previous times she had come here you were more likely to be thrown out if you were not armed to the teeth, angry locals always looking for any weakness and an easy fight. Over the years she came to judge that sort of behaviour less and less, the way things were people needed to find ways to vent their frustration. The intellectuals argued whilst the thugs fought, she found herself sliding into the latter category as the years on the road went by. She already had a slight reputation there; she was Kira the quiet guard for hire in the corner of the Tavern. She would bring no trouble, drink until she could barely walk, then stagger out. The job she had just come from involved no small amount of violence, protecting what little useful farmlands that remained from raiders. It paid well and was easy enough. Take down one or two and the rest scatter as prolonged fighting does not benefit anyone, it's much easier to fall back to try and hit somewhere unguarded or even ration out the supplies a little longer, an advantage gained from fallen comrades is less mouths to feed.

The money she got for the work would feed her for a week or so but now was the time for drowning sorrows and doing her best to forget the world around her. She was still in the staring match with her drink when one of the locals approached her, clearly deciding it was time to vent frustrations.

"Well if it isn't an imperial gracing us with her presence" he said.

"Who says I'm an imperial?" she said, not looking up from the drink.

"The insignia might be hidden under those fancy carvings but I recognise imperial armour when I see it," he said.

She was sat back, her feet up on the chair across the table. She looked up to see that he was a large man but nothing she could not handle. Her military training all those years ago after the first attack put her combat skills a cut above your average bar brawler, also having made a living off mercenary work for four years she was right to be confident. Having analysed there was minimal threat she looked back down at her drink without saying a word. The silent treatment aggravated him.

"We don't like imperials here," he continued.

"Not many places do," she replied, weighing up whether to play it calm of make a show of force. As it stood it was just hot air from a drunken idiot.

"But even worse is when a freak like you saunters in like she owns the place," he said.

Even the imperial design of her armour paled in comparison to the number of fights caused by her scarring. People often assumed she had received magical favour or was some warped offspring of demons they knew all too well. Her entire right eye was ice-blue, as were the streaks coming down from it to her jawline. She had journeyed to Corona early in her mercenary career, seeking to heal the damage that had been done. Even the healer's knowledge of magic over there could not save her from these icy markings. She was told restoring sight in the eye was simple enough but removing the magical properties that kept the ice in the scarring would have destroyed the eye outright. Mercenary work was dangerous enough with perfect eyesight so she chose against removing the marks. She considered a mask as part of her battle armour but that drew an even larger amount of the wrong sort of attention, showing she had something to hide only heightened intrigue into her identity. It was easier to hide as an imperial freak than as a mystery. One thing she had learned for sure, her facial markings and scars could draw in the aggression of those with a chip on their shoulder, like the man standing at her table right now.

"I have every right to pick you up and throw you through that door" he said, pointing the tavern's front doors.

"I've got my own score to settle with Arendelle's empire and its leaders you know" she said

"Your armour and the abomination on your face say otherwise," he said.

This had gone on long enough; if she let this man speak any longer the patrons would see her as timid or worse people might think she still had an actual connection to the imperial army. She slowly took her feet off the chair and planted them firmly on the ground. Then in flash sprang up, grabbed the man, pulled him toward her and the top of her skull met his face, none of the other patrons batted an eyelid at this turn of events. The move had been so fast he barely knew what had happened as an explosion of teeth emanated from his mouth. She grabbed the back of his neck and slammed his head down on the table. His responses were a groan of pain, followed by muffled begging and a fair amount of struggling.

"Well look who it is"

The voice came from behind her, for a split-second she was worried the man had a friend that she had failed to notice and fully braced for a blind-side hit. However when no hit came and she processed the sounds it became evident this was not the case, the voice even seemed familiar. She turned round and instantly recognised this man. He had hardly changed since the day they had met, his clothes were significantly plainer and there was tiredness in his eyes that no smirk could hide but standing before her was Hans. If she was not already occupied with the current act of violence she would have jumped Hans immediately.

"You've got a lot of nerve approaching me" she said, she was pleased that the scene before him conveyed the right sort of message to Hans.

"Well yes, but before you do to me what you've done to that unfortunate soul I'd just like you to hear me out" Hans said, as calm and soft-spoken as he was when they first met. It was somewhat disarming and she was not helped by the man on the table recovering from the initial hit and his resistance rapidly increasing. She grabbed the wrist so his hand was splayed out on the table, took a knife from her belt and stabbed through. The blade effortlessly cut clean through the hand and into the table beneath it. He yelled out in pain as he witnessed the crude method to stick him in place.

"I'm not done with you," she said to him and turned to face Hans.

"Hear you out? You think I'm just going to forget what you did to me?" she said.

"I'm not here for a fight," Hans said, making a show of melodramatically grimacing at the scene in front of him.

"Well what if I am?" she said, placing her hand on her sword hilt.

"Don't try and take the moral high ground, thanks to your invasion forces my home is ashes and the few surviving members of my family are puppets for your empire, so I'd say we're about even" Hans said, if he was scared of her, it did not show.

"I'm not responsible for what the Empress has done" She loosened her grip on her sword hilt and sighed "And it's not my fault you lost your little war,"

"The fighting at least caused enough chaos for me to escape that place," Hans said

"Cowardly to the last" she said.

"Choosing to fight against an infinite and unfeeling army was suicide, they chose their fate and I chose to ignore their pointless last stand," he checked his nails and looked back at her "besides I'm clearly not the only one who chose to run away from their problems"

"You're as cold and heartless as you were seven years ago" she said.

"I don't let it get to me because I can't afford to dwell on it, if I did then I may as well give up on everything right now," Hans said. This was the first display of anything other than a calm, collected attitude. She was taken aback by the sudden emotion. He paused to regain composure, took a deep breath and continued.

"Look, I'm willing to put all this aside because I have something very important to discuss with you." Hans said, whilst she knew he was a master of deception, in truth she missed the times when her human interaction was not exclusively demanding payment, ordering drinks with various levels of toxicity, or similar to that of her new friend stuck to the table behind her.

Hans then spoke very quietly.

"Besides I think you'll be interested, it's in regards to our illustrious Empress, mistress of the ice herself."

Her eyes widened. The main reason she was looking to constantly get blind drunk in the first place were the problems the Elsa had brought upon her and every land that had been annexed or destroyed on Arendelle's ruthless path to dominance. She squinted, contemplating how to approach this offer. She would have to be careful and make it very clear that any hint of trickery would be met harshly.

"If anything looks or feels wrong I won't hesitate to end you," she said

"Fair enough, I'd be stupid to think I could expect your trust," Hans said.

"Well?" she said

"I'd prefer somewhere quieter, anyone could be listening and I'd prefer not to have to whisper the entire conversation" Hans said

"I'll listen to what you have to say, but if I don't like it then I never want to see you again. Are we clear?" she said

"Crystal" Hans said

"Fine, I have my own lodgings nearby" she said.

She turned around and took her knife back out of the table and man's hand respectively.

"It's your lucky day" she said, it was either pain or shock that had rendered the man unconscious. He looked too pathetic slumped on the bloody table with significantly less teeth than he started with to bring down any further wrath on anyway.

"Lead the way princess," Hans said gesturing toward the door; he seemed to revel in trying to provoke her. It was an odd tactic but at least she knew that Hans was still similar to his old self, better the devil you know than the devil you do not.

"Don't ever call me that again," she said as she headed off.

"Then what do I call you?" he said.

"Kira, just call me Kira" she said.


	2. Chapter 2

The two of them were moving through the streets, winter's permanent bite hit harder than usual as at this point she normally had enough alcohol in her system to ignore the cold completely. She got to know this town's layout as she had been sticking around for a while now. Usually she stayed on the move, if any of the imperials tracked her down or recognised her it would be a one way trip back into the Empress' clutches. Even with the farmlands nearby this place was small enough to have a light military presence and so near to Arendelle no one looking for her would think she would be crazy enough to stay so close. If anything she had enjoyed a bit of consistency.

The journey from the tavern to where she was living was a short distance; though it usually took her a long time to travel between them as it involved a lot of staggering, poorly lit streets and the world spinning around her. However that paled in comparison to how long it felt with Hans walking by her side. No words were being exchanged. He was outright refusing to show any emotion other than an aura of self-importance and seemed to have no problem with the silence between them, a tense silence that he seemed to thrive in. Part of her just wanted to turn back around, go into the tavern and end the night in a drunken daze just like every other one for the past year. Though this was in the back of her mind, she knew she had to follow this through. Whatever was going on here could provide a brief escape from her drab existence, even if it was only a temporary distraction.

She felt a small amount of relief as they reached her lodgings, the door stood in their way. At the best of times the unlocking it was tricky and the splintered section near the lock was plain to see, a result of her impatience when the door failed to cooperate a few days ago. Kicking it open again almost felt like the right thing to do, a show of force and no dragging out the increasingly uncomfortable silence she felt. Luckily for the door, her first attempt to unlock it was successful. As it opened she stretched out her arm, gesturing for Hans to go in first.

"I'll make myself at home then," he said as he walked past.

The interior of the house was a similar design to the tavern, the perfect combination of homey without breaking her budget. Hans was taking it all in.

"This place is quite a step down for you," he said.

"I didn't bring you here to listen to you insult me," she said. "What you saw in the tavern is nothing compared what I could do to you right here, right now."

He looked aside and sighed, the arrogant grin fell from his face.

"You can drop the threats, truth is I don't how else to talk to you at this point," he admitted.

There it was, acting like his old self when he was as lost as she was, and much to her chagrin she caught herself reacting with sympathy despite their sordid past. She wanted to avoid this rabbit hole; she had been burned by her compassion before and refused to let it get the better of her.

"Do I really have to call you Kira?" Hans said changing the subject; evidently he was uncomfortable with the tension between them after all.

"I haven't used that other name in a long time," she said.

"I was out of the loop as it was, basically a prisoner in my own home whilst Elsa's forces stormed across the land and seas" he said "It made my first attempts to find you a total waste of time, as far as everyone knew you went back to your old reclusive ways and hid away in Arendelle's palace. If I knew I was looking for Kira I might have saved some time,"

She knew her escape was downplayed. What she had gathered were that only a few agents were quietly hunting her and they often fell short, she figured they had to tread carefully so word would not spread. Add to that her almost constant moving and it made their quest to find her almost futile. Imperial officers were likely to recognise her up close so she made a habit of not being in the same place as them.

"Well it can't be known that Elsa's only living family member abandoned her empire," she said.

"I don't know, being a Princess might be a fun niche for your newer line of work. You could even charge extra for the honour of having your land protected by royalty," Hans said

She wanted to be angry with his snide remarks, she had been angry for years now and it served her perfectly well. Despite this, she just could not bring herself to be. The feeling of regret kicked in the moment they left that tavern and she just wanted this to be over so she could go back to drinking herself into a stupor, maybe get into another fight and call it a night.

"Enough wasting time, what do you want Hans?" she asked.

"No more small-talk I see," he seemed disappointed "I'm here on behalf of the resistance, we want to bring Elsa's reign to an end"

"Is that some sort of joke?" she said. The stories she heard about the resistance were usually more along the line of being discovered and executed rather than seeing any successes. She would never have suspected Hans to be amongst their ranks.

"You'd be a huge asset to us; your knowledge of the empire's inner workings alone…" he tailed off, she had failed to stop herself from laughing at him.

"You know who it is you're trying to dethrone right?" she said through bouts of laughter, he was delusional.

"I'm going to assume you're telling the truth because if you were lying you'd come up with something much less insane," she said.

"This isn't funny Anna," he said. It was the first time she had been called that since she ran away from Arendelle. She stopped laughing abruptly, the use of her real name and his serious tone quelled any amusement she felt.

"You seriously think some little club of misfits is going to bring Elsa down? She's an unstoppable force, you either move out the way or you get destroyed," she said.

Hans was being patient with her but she wanted to milk the opportunity to make him look like a fool and planned to continue. She may have felt bad for the man but this was a form of revenge she had no qualms with.

"You need a history lesson Hans? That prison they had you at fail to bring you the news of the world?" She said. He said nothing, his arms were folded as if he was just going to ride this out and wait for her to finish.

"Even when she was at her most vulnerable, when she was reluctant to use her powers for anything other than making dresses and cake-toppers she was still untouchable,"

"No one is untouchable," he said.

"I saw it myself Hans, from the beginning. Weselton attacked us, completely catching us off-guard back when we were too naïve to suspect anyone would strike at us. Our guards did what they could but we had no real chance. Then with a click of her fingers Elsa drove back an entire battalion, the direct power forcing them back. The magic they feared causing a retreat. Arendelle survived but a lot of good people, friends, died that day."

"I didn't know the extent of the damage I must admit," Hans said

"It didn't stop there, shortly after Weselton attacked again, the combination of fear of magic and desperation from our trade embargo drove them forward to true madness. It was obvious they would never back down" she said, pausing to try and keep composure. Retelling this was stirring her emotions but she kept going, more for herself than for Hans' benefit.

"Elsa decided for the good of everyone that Weselton needed to be contained. To strike so they would stop throwing themselves at Arendelle until there was no-one left. At the time it seemed like the right thing to do, conjure an army of ice warriors and snow golems to take control. No one else would have to get hurt, Elsa was hesitant to do it but at least once it was done it was over quickly."

"Anna you don't have to tell me all this," Hans said, growing uncomfortable as she was doing a poor job of hiding her aggravation as she recalled these events.

"Yes I do Hans, you come in telling me you want to stop her? You need to hear exactly what she is." She paused, thinking back to when things truly started to unravel.

"The surrounding kingdoms heard what happened to Weselton. Elsa only did it to protect people, she wanted to stop all the unnecessary death and war but everyone else saw it as a warning, that is was a sign of things to come. Fearing the safety of Arendelle, Elsa set up a spy network to prevent anything like Weselton's attack catching us off-guard again. With each passing report it became clear all the nearby kingdoms planned to form an alliance against Arendelle as a precaution. Elsa employed the same strategy that she used on Weselton pre-emptively this time, striking against anyone rumoured to be uniting against Arendelle. She summoned more ice-based nightmares to fight for her. The more she did the more people feared her, the more they saw her as a tyrant. Soon even she didn't remember the good intentions of it all as she took city after city, kingdom after kingdom in the name of peace and protection. That's what you want to try and stop Hans, a demi-god powerful enough to forge an empire by accident." Her tale was finished; she was flustered by recounting all these events. Due to keeping who she was as secret as possible it was the first time she had spoken to someone about what had happened.

"Now she is someone who is willing to force a permanent winter, just so her army and maintaining forces don't melt away. The consequences of this, food shortages and a high civilian attrition rate are acceptable side-effects for her, she's as remorseless as she is ruthless" she said.

"I must admit I've never heard that side of the story before," Hans said stroking his chin contemplatively, "but by ignoring this you're giving up and avoiding the difficult path, just like Elsa did. Rather than confront your problems or look for compromise, you quickly act out without thinking. It may not be as extreme but where she would lash out at a city you seem to lash out at poor idiots in taverns at the slightest provocation,"

"Don't you ever compare me to her," she said, her nostrils flared as she started to snarl.

"I'm just calling it how I see it, you're so afraid that you don't realise that you're making exactly the same mistakes Elsa did, fear dictating your actions above sense and reason."

That was her breaking point. She lunged at him, knocking him to the floor.

"You don't have to be like her, you can at least try to set things right," Hans said, struggling to get the words out with her hands now wrapped around his throat. It was not until she saw the light leaving his eyes that she snapped out of her blind anger. She realised that all she achieved with this was to reinforce Hans' point, she let go. She stood up and dusted herself off, breathing heavily and recovering from her flash of rage. Hans was content to stay on the floor as he gratefully gasped for air. There was another way she knew how to deal with all the emotional backlash she was faced with, a way she was merrily familiar with.

"I'm going back to the tavern," she mumbled.

"So that's it? Running away again, you don't even want to hear why we need you, what we're planning?" Hans said.

She wanted to put this behind her, she wanted to forget this ever happened but Hans' words affected her more than she wanted to admit. The bridge he presented to her did not have to be crossed, but there was no reason to burn it either.

"You can stick around if you like, keep trying to convince me but for now I have a date with a bottle than I simply can't afford to miss," she said. It was a happy compromise, there was no guilt for giving up but she did not actually have to confront anything real for now. Having Hans around could even be therapeutic. Though she had grown accustomed to what she had become she was far from happy with her life and this could be a way to fix it, even if only a little.


	3. Chapter 3

As she walked outside her lodgings the familiar cold air hit. Even if the rest of her body had to deal with the chill, one advantage of her scarring was that her face was largely unaffected by the weather. After the healers had done their work it never physically gave her any trouble at all. The ice had somehow fused with her biology so even in the rare encounters with warm conditions, the scarring remained unaffected, if it were less visible it would be advantageous.

She strode off at a quick pace without looking back for Hans. The faster she got more of whatever that Tavern called a drink, the better. The wind was getting stronger and started to blow the snow off the top of the surrounding buildings into her. The accumulating moisture caused her armour to glitter slightly, accentuating the patterns carved onto the breastplate. When she first started out she knew the imperial insignia could lose her a lot of work, so as a pass-time she carved elaborate patterns around it in an attempt to hide its true nature. She was still naively hopeful back then that she could maintain some youthful charm in her life, the artwork allowing her to keep up a creative aspect. She had long since given up on it, now she trudged through the snow with no intention other than to get out of her own head.

"I found a spare key lying around and locked the house's door," Hans said, he was breathing slightly heavily as he had to run to catch up with her.

"There's nothing in there of value anyway," she said. The only things she needed to look after were the sword currently in its sheath, the shield mounted on her back and the armour she was wearing. The shield was just as high-quality and sturdy as her armour which was forged back in her royal days. She learned from the veteran mercenaries in her travels that the key to staying alive was a strong defence. People who focused primarily on attack often did not last long. She set aside a bit of money on each job so she could invest in a custom-made shield out of the finest materials a blacksmith could get hold of. On the other hand her weapon was a standard short-sword, it did the job and she did not care enough to put the same effort into saving for anything of higher quality. She did not always make a point of having them with her at all times but this was a precaution in case the man she attacked wanted to go for round two.

"Can I ask you something," Hans said, he had caught up now and was keeping pace.

"If it's a question about how I feel about all this then you won't get a word until at least another four pints," she said. Drunk Anna would either be happier to be emotional or just outright attack Hans, either was fine with her.

"I'll bear that in mind, but what I wanted to ask you about was your sister. How she became what she is today, I mean fear is one thing but I never could have imagined how far she was willing to go," he said.

She sighed, "Olaf and Sven died when Weselton first attacked, two of the small group she knew well died just after she let herself back into the world. "

"The snowman and the Reindeer?" Hans said.

"Yes the snowman and the reindeer," she said in a tone to discourage Hans' obvious scepticism.

"A flaming catapult projectile melted Olaf after impact and a wayward crossbow bolt hit Sven, having those close to her die so suddenly might have triggered something in her, or she regressed. Over the years Elsa became…"she stopped, unwilling to finish this train of thought and unsure of how to truly describe what had become of her sister.

"It's okay," Hans said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"No, it's all the past now. She is what she is and there's nothing we can do about it" she said shrugging off Hans' hand and with a reinvigorated determination to get to their destination.

When they reached it they saw the man she had attacked lying on the ground outside, he was still out cold with red dots of snow around his hand. Someone had at least bothered to wrap up the wound. Evidently management's solution for the mess was to just chuck it out the door. Anna stepped over the unconscious man without a moment's hesitation to get inside.

"Is he going to be alright?" Hans said

"He'll live," she said merrily swinging open the door. She stopped in her tracks as inside talking to the tavern's owner was an imperial officer with two ice warriors in tow. Any human guards became officers by default to manage the ever-increasing number of ice based demons that made up Arendelle's forces. Ice warriors were an intimidating sight to most; icy spikes protrude from their torsos and their piercing red eyes could unsettle even the most experienced fighters. Warriors tended to vary in size a lot but these two had huge sharp pointed icicles for arms and stood at seven foot, dwarfing the officer between them.

"You can't just leave someone outside like that," the officer said.

"An imp officer showing concern for others? That's a good one, got any more?" the tavern owner said, being difficult for the imperial authorities was one of the only thrills left these days.

"He could be dead for all I care but it's an offense to the empire to have litter lying around like that, especially so close to our capital. There are standards we have to maintain," the officer said.

"Yes can't have people like us messing up your glorious cities now can we?" the tavern owner said as he mockingly performed a bow, once he raised his head back up he spotted Anna frozen to the spot in the doorway.

"Ask her to take him out back, she was the one that attacked him. All we did was drag him outside so he didn't get blood on the bar or something," the tavern owner said.

The officer turned, when he saw her he let out very slight chuckle.

"So it was you was it?" he said approaching her, ice warriors in tow.

"I didn't expect someone like you to be in with a crowd like this." He then waited for a response. All she did to respond was look at him with an angry expression on her face. She was not sure what else to do. Her carelessness had been punished so quickly by this officer showing up and recognising her that she was stuck in a difficult position.

"Not feeling talkative eh?" the officer said. He turned around and addressed everyone in the tavern. "Everyone else leave," he said.

A few patrons mouthed off about how that was never going to happen and how he expected to enforce this when there was only three of them and a whole tavern willing to fight.

"There's three of us now, don't do as I say and you'll get to face a whole contingent of these two's friends," he said pointing back at his warriors. This was met by silence across the entire room; the patrons were eyeing each other to see if someone would make the first move. After a few seconds the owner broke the tension.

"Fine everyone out, I don't want to be the empire's next conquest," he said.

Imperial officers did no favours for the empire's now practically non-existent popularity amongst the peasantry. This officer was actually relatively tame compared to what she had heard of others. Most would have jumped straight to the part where a contingent of warriors would wreck the place.

"And take that trash lying out on the street with you," the officer said as they all filed out. Hans had stayed put by Anna's side the whole time.

"You need to leave too pretty boy," the officer said.

"He's with me," Anna was not ready to see the last of Hans just yet .

"Happy now?" the owner said as he moved to clear up for the night.

"No, you leave us be as well," the officer said.

"This is where I live," the owner said.

"Well go check stock out back. I won't ask again," the officer said

The owner mumbled inaudibly as he grudgingly made himself scarce, despite all the big talk in this place no-one really wanted to mess with Arendelle.

"So I'm on my way back to the capital and spot that man outside. I thought it would be just a routine reminder to behave, maybe fine the place. Then in walks the traitorous princess herself," the officer said, his smug satisfaction was so much worse than anything Hans had ever managed.

"What's your game?" Hans asked as he must have been less content with Anna's silent strategy.

"No game, it was a decree from the Empress to all officers that this situation needs to be handled in a delicate fashion," the officer said.

"I'm not going with you," she said, she doubted it would make much of a difference but wanted to stall just a little bit longer.

"UnfortunatelyI don't have a choice, if it were up me I'd execute you on the spot. Running from Arendelle, turning our own against each other in your cowardice," he said.

Not all Imperial guards were blindly devoted to Elsa's will. More than one of them rushed to defend Anna when she made her escape four years ago. A snow-golem was her last hurdle to freedom. It had managed to strike her down with one of its claws; she was helpless as what was now her facial scarring started to set in. It was too excruciating to immediately carry on, if it were not for the intervention of one of the guardsmen staving off this attacker she would never have gotten the time to recover and get away through the series of secret tunnels Elsa had put in place. She liked to think there were still some good men left but had cast it from her mind as everyone who helped her that day had probably been executed for treason.

"You're only loyal because you get to live in your ivory towers whilst the rest of us suffer, Arendelle is toxic to every land it touches," Hans said.

The anger this caused the officer diverted his attention and subsequently his warriors enough for Anna to make her move. The whole time the officer had been talking with the patrons and now with them she had subtly shifted her position and stance to be ready to attack at a moment's notice. She dashed forward and hacked at one of the warrior's waists, it was a strong enough strike to cut it in half. The two halves of the body crashed to floor and she stamped on its head to prevent any unwarranted attacks from the legless warrior, breaking the head was one of the few ways to stop these things for good. As she did this she unmounted the shield from her back and faced the remaining two adversaries.

"Stop her," the officer blurted out in disbelief, stepping back to allow the warrior to protect him. No one ever suspected just how quickly she could switch from zero to lethal. She bashed the flat edge of her sword on the front of her shield a couple of times, goading the warrior to attack first. It took the bait and swung at her, a quick parry with her sword set it off balance allowing Anna to set her feet and put all her strength into striking the monster hard with her shield. It shattered from the impact, sending shards flying across the tavern. The ice based beasts were weak if you knew how to attack them. Any hope the officer had to regain his composure was dashed when both of his guards had been dispatched so quickly, like many of the officers he had gotten lazy over the years. Why fight or keep up training when you can get the ice warriors to do it for you. He drew his sword nonetheless, it was ornate and more for show than dealing with the likes of Anna's armaments.

"You think that'll stop me taking you in?" the officer said, however the fearful tone in his voice and shaking sword-hand revealed this as the empty threat it was.

"In this situation I'd advise against annoying her further," Hans said. He had just stood back, happy to have watched the whole thing happen without having to expend any effort.

"For your own sake you can walk out and forget any of this happened," Anna said.

"I won't do that, I can't do that," the officer said with a surprising amount of confidence considering his situation.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Anna smirked as she lunged forward, the officer's lack of combat practice meant it was over quickly. The scattered remains, icy shards and the now dead officer littered the tavern. The commotion had not escaped the attention of the owner who had come from out from behind the bar.

"Oh this isn't good," he said as he saw the aftermath of the fighting, a dead officer in his tavern would not be good for his business or health.

"You didn't hear anything that was said did you?" Anna asked.

"What? Erm, no." he replied, Anna knew that an armoured woman with blood on her sword was someone you wanted to appease.

"I'll clean this all up and stay quiet I promise," he said.

"You don't have to lie for me, if they question you just tell them the truth of what you saw," she said sheathing her sword. She was not willing for this man to face imperial wrath on her behalf.

"Thank you I guess, I honestly didn't hear what caused this but seeing that smug imp dead is enough for me to owe you one," he said.

"Just don't do anything stupid that would bring even more trouble on your head," she said.

She gestured to Hans she was leaving; as they stepped out she saw the man was still on the floor. None of the other patrons had bothered to move him.

"We need to leave this place," she said.

"You know, I think I know some people that can help you lay low," Hans said.

"Shut up Hans," Anna said.


	4. Chapter 4

She moved off, sticking around would only cause more problems.

"Where exactly are you planning to go?" Hans asked.

"Somewhere not here," Anna said. The truth was she had no idea, she knew going back to her house was a waste of time. This was all a stark reminder on why she decided never to settle, stay in the same place long enough and bad situations find you. She had just started to like it here but once more it was time to hit the road. All that had happened just confirmed she would have to stay on the move indefinitely. She did not see that as a problem until recently, being cooped up in Arendelle for so long meant she welcomed a mobile lifestyle, but over the years she got increasingly tired and mentally fatigued by it. Now she knew never being able to stay still was an unpleasant way to live but it was the only option available to her outside of Hans' offer. Perhaps it was just bad luck but the string of unfortunate events that plagued her life suggested being discovered would be more of a trend if she did not actively try to avoid detection. For now she decided to go back to basics, pick a direction and keep going until she could find work. She would head to the farm she worked for earlier today, might be able to convince the owner to give her some supplies and even a place to stay as it was starting to get dark. With a purpose now in mind she upped her pace.

"So you'd rather just move on than come with me?" Hans said.

"Moving on has better survival odds," she said.

"Just give us a chance," he said, still choosing to follow despite only vocalising a lack of interest in his cause.

"You said something earlier about pointless stands, well your little resistance is taking one. Besides if you think I trust you enough to give you the benefit of the doubt then you seem to be conveniently forgetting the time you tried to kill me," she said.

"Oh get off that high horse of yours, I just watched you kill a man," Anna tried to interrupt but Hans was determined to finish what he had to say.

"And don't tell me you didn't have a choice, you'd have been long gone by the time he could have reported seeing you at that tavern and for it to be followed up on," he said.

"I do what I must to survive," she said.

"Believe what you want but don't go around thinking you're any better than I am," he paused. Grabbed her shoulder to stop her from walking, she turned to him and batted his hand away. Now they were facing each other she could see this sombre expression.

"What happened Anna? The girl I once knew was so innocent and compassionate"

"Yeah well I learned the hard way how that attitude was a waste of time," she said. She opened out her arms, beckoning to the snow on the ground and the clouds above.

"You think I stood idly by whilst all this happened? Whilst Arendelle was causing all this, the very sun itself is a rare sight now. I pleaded and begged Elsa to stop in my oh so compassionatemanner and I was brushed aside and ignored. It was like that damn door when we were kids was back. No one cared until I started looking out for myself first, that's when people took notice and that's when I stopped living in the shadow of Elsa. Along with everyone else taking notice who previously saw me as nothing but some child to be looked after," she said.

"I don't buy it, people don't just change that drastically," Hans said.

"Elsa did." Anna said

"That's different. Elsa was always scared of her power, of what she might do. That's the fear that drove her to this, but you? I don't know where this has come from," he said.

"Well let's just say I've been through a lot since you last saw me and leave at that," she said.

"What happened Anna?" Hans said.

"I said leave it at that." She had already slipped into revealing more about herself than she wanted. She was not sure if having Hans' around to talk too was having a positive or negative effect. She had not intended to reveal so much to him and made a mental note to watch what she said more carefully. To make it clear she was done with this conversation she turned her full attention back to the journey. The wind was blowing against them making it a tiring endeavour so she decided that stopping this conversation to focus on walking was the appropriate thing to do.

If there were another set of imperials around they would have too little information to track her to this farm so quickly, the swirling winds removed the footprints in the snow at a quick rate. Besides the farm was one of the few areas where Elsa allowed the sun to shine through, any ice-warriors would melt if they entered the region so it would only be incompetent officers they would face should she be tracked down. The farmlands were coming into view, as they closed in the snow was becoming slush and the air gradually got warmer. The fields covered a large area but the buildings themselves were quite small, consisting of only of some stables, a barn and a cottage. The lack of light coming from any of the buildings and the lack of a guard to check on these intruders raised alarms in her mind.

"Something isn't right," Anna said. The cottage was in clear view now.

"Their door's already open," Hans pointed out. It was banging back forth as the wind threw it around effortlessly. They let themselves in to investigate, the place had been ransacked and there was no obvious sign of life.

"Hello?" Hans said.

Anna punched his shoulder to get his attention and put her finger over her lips. There was no telling what had happened here just yet and there was no reason to assume whoever did this was gone. Hans whispered "ow" sarcastically before staying quiet. The cottage was empty.

"We stick together, there might be someone hiding out in the stables or the barn," Anna said quietly.

"You mean the person that lived here?" Hans said.

"Yes," she said. She actually meant that if it was raiders they might have claimed the place and saw them coming, they could be lying in wait somewhere and there was no way of telling how many or how desperate they were. However she could not be bothered to scuttle Hans' optimism.

They went to check the stables first. Her theory of someone raiding the place was confirmed when no sound of horses emanated from the stables, not even breathing. The only plausible reason the animals would have completely vanished would be if someone took them away. They checked the first bay, empty, as were all the others. They had checked them one by one, completely devoid of any evidence of life. The only obvious place left to check was the barn. Hans was getting unsettled by just how slowly she was moving. Her effort to make as little sound as possible motivated this slow pace and even the lightweight nature of her armour was not ideal for silent movement. Her efforts were in vein as when she pushed the barn door open it creaked loudly, the sound was amplified by the quiet surroundings, it almost seemed thunderous. She stopped, drew her sword and stood ready for something to happen. There was an air of uncertainty as she expected the worse, but there was no exterior movement or sound. For a few more tense seconds she stood ready. As nothing continued to happen she reluctantly sheathed her sword and opened the door fully, wincing as the creaking echoed through the large space of the barn. What little light remained in the sky shone through on the man lying face down in the centre, looking angelic as the light was exclusively on him compared to the darkness of the barn. Hans' moved over to check on him before Anna could warn him to be careful about moving into an exposed space. Her caution was unwarranted as this place proved to be truly abandoned.

"He's dead," Hans said as he rolled him into his front. She recognised him immediately; he had paid her once her shift to protect this place was over, it was only a few hours ago.

"Was he the only one?" Hans asked

"There was a wife and son," she said.

"He must have distracted the raiders, given his family time to escape," Hans said. Anna wanted to believe that, but she knew there was no way of knowing what events had occurred.

Despite conducting another, more thorough search of the whole premises the other two were nowhere to be found. Their search did turn up a hidden set of provisions and supplies behind a panel in the stables that had been untouched. There was no sign of anything or anyone else; once they were satisfied they had checked every corner they returned to the cottage.

"I asked before I left this place, I asked if there was someone coming to replace me. He said yes. Either he was too proud to admit they couldn't afford it or the one after me was working with whoever looted this place," she said. Anna moved over to one of the front windows, she stared out silently. Looking outside she could see where she had sat when guarding this place a mere few hours ago. The wife kept offering her food and drink, the son kept coming out to try and talk to her. He even asked to play with her sword and shield a couple of times. She had just told him to go inside each time and stay out of her way as she had a job to do. She now realised she had not even bothered to ask any of the family their names. Now the father was dead and there was no trace of the others, they were victims of desperate raiders stealing everything they could just to survive in the barren wastes. After some time just staring at her guard spot in silence she spoke up.

"Your resistance, I want to meet them," she said to Hans who was lighting some candles as the natural light continued to fade and night was setting in.

"Ready to join our club of misfits eh?" Hans said. She just gave him a look, there was no real expression on her face. Just an empty look as she failed to find any returning words for Hans' remarks.

"The nearest hideout isn't too far, maybe half a day's journey. Resting up would be pertinent," he said.

"We can take some of those supplies in the stables before we head out," she said, it's not like anyone else was going to use them.

"We'll see," Hans seemed reluctant to carry out this suggestion.

"Put those candles out, we'll need to sleep in shifts. Can you fight?" Anna said, she was too tired to take the first watch.

"I can hold my own but weaponry would be preferable," Hans said. She squinted, thinking on what she was about to do. If this was all some ruse by Hans it seemed too elaborate just for him to kill her in her sleep. She handed over her sword.

"And the shield?" Hans asked.

"No, this thing will never leave my side," she said. It was the only reliable companion she had ever had.

"Why exactly are we sleeping in shifts?" Hans asked.

"Just because they thought there was nothing left worth taking doesn't mean whoever did this won't return," she said.

"Or the wife and son might come back," he said. Anna did not respond, she just turned and headed to the bedroom to get as much sleep as she could for tomorrow. At the best of times she failed to sleep at night, this had been a trying day.


	5. Chapter 5

Anna had just about managed some sleep and they headed out as soon as it was light enough. Hans was leading the way. She let this be rather than asking where they were going; she was mostly lost in her own thoughts as she repeatedly went over if there was anything she could have done for the family. If she had bothered to take more interest she might have been able to do something. However it was not her fault the raiders did what they did, nor was it her fault that the family made the mistakes to let it happen. It was the stray thought "you didn't even ask their names" that was haunting her. She repeated a lesson from one of the more jaded old mercenaries to herself.

"Attachment gets you killed," she said quietly,

"Look out for yourself first," followed, she muttered these to herself. It was a mantra that had served her well and got her this far, despite this she had recently been forced to ignore it when Hans insisted on leaving the hidden supplies exactly where they were. She had followed his wishes partially to avoid the hassle but mostly to try and quell some of the guilt she felt. It was not working.

Her lack of attention made the uneventful journey go by quickly. There were times on the way where the landscape with its glistening snowfall on a backdrop of mountain ranges reminded her there was some beauty in this world. Though it was sullied by what the snow represented, every picturesque winter vista was a reminder of Elsa's power. They had headed east, they were moving toward Arendelle. It was not until they reached a small village that either of them spoke.

"Here," he said without any further elaboration, Anna did not care to ask. They had stopped outside a cobbler's shop.

"Just stick with me," Hans said before entering.

"Afternoon Hans," the cobbler said.

"Hi Sigmund, any room out back?" Hans asked.

"Who's ice-face?" Sigmund asked, Anna stayed silent but would discourage him in a less than polite manner should he use that name again.

"Just let us through," Hans said.

Sigmund walked over and slid a wall-panel away to reveal a staircase leading underground.

"Wait, that isn't who I think it is is it?" Sigmund said, he seemed more suspicious than curious.

"Have I ever steered you wrong?" Hans said, Sigmund did not seem satisfied but they descended the stairs anyway. They left the main store behind as the panel slid-back in place. A series of torches were set up along the narrow stairway, the sound of talking and laughter started to echo through. She guessed there were about a dozen or so people inside wherever these stairs lead judging from the noise bouncing around the walls. Hans lead her through to a red door, he knocked on it. A slim panel moved away to reveal a pair of eyes, one green and one blue.

"Password?"

"Just let me in Nat," Hans said. There was a slight giggle as the door flung open.

"Great to see you again," Nat said as she bumped fists with Hans. She had short hair and wore all-black.

"Brought a friend I see," Nat stepped forward, pushing Hans to the side to get a closer look. Anna stood there, perturbed by the fascination.

"Something got you good," Nat said as she lifted her hand near Anna's face. Anna's hand started to twitch slightly, she was about to grab Nat's wrist to stop this but caught Hans giving a slight shake of his head. This was an unknown environment so she did not want to take the chance of unnecessary provocation just yet. Nat touched Anna's scars.

"Not even cold, hmm," Nat said. She walked back into the room shortly after. Anna grabbed Hans before he was about to follow her.

"Is everyone going to do that," she said through gritted teeth.

"Just don't do anything aggressive," Hans said. The fact he had not really answered the question was far from reassuring. The room was a large open space; the floor was cluttered with all sorts of baggage and items with a vague path forming a sort of maze around the room. Various people were milling about and in the centre a ring was set-up where two people were sparring with wooden weapons, neither of whom were holding back as the impact of the hits could be felt by everyone.

"Take it easy you two," Hans said, Anna stood back and watched him. He was in his element as he greeted each person in the room one by one. He knew all of them, each greeting him like an old friend.

"Hans!" The enthusiastic voice carried over from the far side of the room. A youthful girl, a teenager at a guess, started running toward him. She had a long plaited ponytail that swung from side to side as she weaved around and over the scattered objects. She bounded through the various obstacles, navigating so easily she barely lost any speed as she jumped on Hans to hug him, nearly knocking him over in the process.

"Hey you, not causing anyone much trouble I trust?" he said to her.

"Me? Trouble? I don't know the meaning of the word," she replied. Anna was taken aback by everything she saw. She did not know what to think, so far she had just assumed Hans was playing some sort of game but as she continued to look around the room the adoration everyone had for him was evident. In processing all these sights she started to get lost in her thoughts again, standing there contemplatively as she ignored everything around her.

"Anna," Hans said, he stood there with the girl's arms still wrapped around him. How long had he been trying to get her attention? It was only until she heard her name that her mind returned to the present surroundings.

"That door at the far end of the room, go through there and I'll catch up with you." He said.

Anna went about following these instructions, when she moved off she realised everyone was watching intently. Even the two fighting in the middle had stopped. There were occasional murmurs but she mostly made the trip through the maze of clutter in silence, a silence even worse than the one at the farm. The final obstacle was a man standing between her and the door.

"Move," she said.

The man said nothing, just stood his ground and glared down at her. She met his gaze, the fire in his eyes was met with her cold, unblinking stare. He broke this showdown by looking over at Hans. He was given a gesture by Hans to back down, whatever the problem with her was had been quashed by Hans as the man moved out of the way. She continued to wander about Hans; he was well liked and commanded a very high level of respect. Perhaps there really was something to this resistance.

She reached the far end and walked through. This room was much smaller and had a table in the middle with a large map strewn across, flags were planted in it marking different areas. The man that was studying it noticed her as she walked in. He was well built with cropped blond hair and a beard with tinges of grey starting to come through. She was sure she had seen him before but could not quite place why.

"Wow, you've changed," he said.

"Do I know you?" she said.

"I suppose not. I left the empire behind the same day you did, attacking that snow golem didn't give me a lot of options" he said. He put out his hand,

"Jasper by the way."

As she wearily shook his hand the penny dropped, he was the guard that saved her life when she escaped. The hair was different and he was looking significantly older but there was no mistaking who he was. She had momentarily blacked out after being hit by the golem on the day that changed everything. She had only managed a brief glance of this man before she started running on pure adrenaline to make it to the tunnels. This revelation explained how the resistance got off the ground in the first place and how they knew Anna was not hiding away in Arendelle's Palace. This was both a man with direct imperial knowledge and one of the few who knew exactly what had happened to her.

"You knew all this time and only just found me? Then you chose Hans as the one to do it?" she said.

"I kept an eye on you through some old friends and a few contacts, you didn't think the old mercenary teachers you travelled with took you under their wing out of the goodness of their hearts did you?" he said.

"Too lazy to do it yourself?" Anna snapped back, suddenly the idea that everything she had achieved and everything she did to survive influenced by an unseen figure. It was a concept she found disturbing.

"You started acting on your own accord far quicker than I anticipated and I was busy laying the foundations for the resistance. Some of my recruits did manage to track you down from time to time. Your habit of brushing people off and moving on before anyone could even say hello made things tricky, eventually I sent out Hans just to get your attention," he said. It sounded like Hans had been with this resistance a long time, it made the reception he received when he got to this place make a little more sense, but there were still a lot of pieces missing.

"How did you even get him to join you?" she said. It seemed odd for Hans to have joined a selfless cause.

"It happened about six years ago, word was getting around a guy was asking about you and questioning Arendelle's authority everywhere he went. The destruction of the Southern isles had recently happened so there was plenty of doubt amongst the people of Elsa's leadership myself included, so I found him and we got to talking. After that we started a group to try and secretly hold in check what the empire did or at least mitigate some of the damage. I stayed in the guard so I could keep a close eye on proceedings," he said. Anna was still in Arendelle back then; no-one had even told her that Hans was free, alive and looking for her. Being kept in the dark was just another reason she was glad to have left it all behind.

"Hans agreed to that?" she asked.

"He kept telling me this was merely a way of getting revenge on Elsa and a way of getting to you, six years later and he was so wrapped up in his role that he didn't even want to be the one to look for you in the first place," he said.

"He didn't want too?" Anna said. She made a mental note of their determination to find her, it was significant as there was little she would know that Jasper was unable to find out.

"I'd been asking him for the past few years to take up the search, it was only a few months ago that he finally agreed," he said.

"I don't understand," she said. She had assumed so much, like with the family at the farm she had become so insular that she never bothered about even basic questions about those around her.

"In honesty neither do I. The stuff he went through, going from royalty to hard labour. Spending a year in that prison just to come out into a burning home and a nightmarish world around him, it would break most men." Jasper caught himself on this before continuing.

"Hell it probably did break him, his home was gone and what little was left of his family were practically slaves to Arendelle. He was probably looking for you as he had nothing left to turn to. No other familiarity in his life left," he said.

"Then he found this resistance as a way to move on and I became a reminder of his past," Anna finished for him. What was his role in the resistance and why did he get so involved without some sort of angle? She knew she was still missing something.

"Speak of the devil," Jasper said as Hans appeared in the room, he made a point of closing the door behind him.

"Why is Freya here?" Hans said, he sounded angry.

"She wanted to see you, it's been months and you know I can't say no to that face of hers," Jasper said.

"That better be the only reason she's here or I swear Jasper I will make your life hell," Hans said.

Jasper seemed weary of Anna's presence as Hans anger rose. It was frustrating as she had a lot more questions but took the hint and left, she could hardly ask Jasper anything more whilst Hans was right there anyway. However she could find out who everyone else was and have them fill in the gaps about Hans. This plan was quickly dashed as the hostility of everyone in the large room toward her had not died down in her brief absence. She was once again the centre of indignant attention. Before she could say anything the girl that had hugged Hans came up to her, she had large brown eyes and wore a short hooded cloak over a light top and trousers.

"We should probably go outside," she said.

"Are you Freya?" Anna asked.

"Yes, come on we can talk outside," she said. Anna could feel all the eyes in the room drilling into her, she knew if she stayed she would get angry enough to lash out and cause herself all sorts of problems. She took Freya's offer, it seemed like she would be the best person for providing some answers that was unoccupied and it looked like no one else was willing to talk to her. They navigated the maze, on the way Anna spotted and managed to swipe a bottle of a drink that looked very strong amongst the scattered mess. It had almost been a full day without a mind-numbing substance of any kind, Anna was amazed she had coped this long. When they reached the top Freya slid across the panel, undeterred by a protesting Sigmund as they left the main store.


	6. Chapter 6

They walked to the edge of the village. The view of plains as far as the eye could see was their backdrop. The roads could only just about be seen under the white blanket of snow. Freya took off her cloak and placed it on the ground, sitting down cross-legged on it and proceeded to look up at Anna. She patted the ground next to her, Anna remained standing.

"You're not going to make any friends acting like that," Freya said.

"It appears you lot have already made your minds up about me," Anna said.

"Those guys are just less open minded than I am," Freya patted beside herself again.

"Now have a seat" she said. After some deliberation Anna obliged, she stretched her legs out in front of her, dismounting her shield so she could lean back. Freya smiled as Anna got settled next to her, the two of them looked out at the view. Freya grabbed Anna's drink and stuck it in a mound of snow; one bonus of this weather was that a drink cooler was always on hand.

"It's not you they don't like, it's what you represent," she said.

"And what's that exactly?" Anna asked.

"You're a walking embodiment of what they hate most. You my friend are the empire," Freya said.

"I hated it whilst I was there and cut ties four years ago," Anna said.

"I believe you, it's them you gotta convince. What's your issue, what's your story?" Freya said. There was something about this girl, she had a calming presence. Her manner and the way she spoke just made her feel more relaxed.

"You first, what are you to Hans? How old even are you?" Anna said. Freya cocked her head.

"Fine, you can tell me later. As for me, I'm seventeen," she said.

"A little young to be fighting the empire aren't you?" Anna said.

"Fight?" Freya Chortle "That'd be the day, we mainly just talk but we also help out the needy and gather information. Jasper says fighting would be a waste of time."

"What about that sparring ring?" Anna said.

"Sure we train but I think that's mostly just to keep us occupied," she said.

"So why stay? You could just leave and never look back," Anna said. Freya looked out further into the distance.

"I've thought about it but these guys are family. I was only twelve when the empire ruined my life. They took me in, have to be loyal you know?" she said. Anna's gut reaction was to tell her how dangerous loyalty to others could be, but again something about this girl's presence prevented her from a cynical comment.

"What's your story then?" Anna said.

"You wish to hear the tragic tale of Freya, the sweetheart of the resistance herself? Very well," she shifted round to face Anna directly.

"I'm from the Southern Isles, I was living in the last city still standing. When Arendelle's final, brutal assault was launched my parents told me we would run and not look back. The monsters were roaming freely killing everything without mercy and wrecking anything they came across. I was small and quick, easy to miss. I got through but when I escaped to the city limits I had to stop to catch my breath. Up to this point I had assumed my parents were just behind me the whole time," Freya sighed.

"Anyway I was aimlessly wandering the lands on my own, hungry and tired. After a couple of days someone found me and took me in," she said.

"Hans," Anna concluded.

"No actually, her name was Claudia. She's dead now," Freya had said this so flatly that it dawned on Anna just how familiar death was to a generation that grew up with Arendelle's dominance. Freya had known it all from a young age.

"I went with Claudia because I was desperate and hungry, but these new people terrified me. Everything was so strange and part of me expected my parents to show up and fix everything. Naïve optimism I guess," she said.

"I knew that feeling all too well," Anna said. Freya had been forced to grow up so fast.

"Yeah well I started to get the hint nothing would return to normal when we shipped over to the mainland, I kept hearing there was nothing left to save on the isles. I was moved from hideout to hideout, still so scared of all these strange people. I hadn't even spoken a word to any of them. They asked questions but I would just shy away. Then one day, I'm curled up in the corner of one our big hideouts and this man just sits next to me. No questions; didn't offer any help or talk down to me, he just says "I miss home too kid." He stayed a little longer but I still didn't say anything, what he said just kind of stuck with me though. Later that day I went up to him, he was talking to Jasper at the time. I tugged on his coat and once I had his attention I said "I'm Freya." He's looked after and looked out for me ever since. Now I know him better I realise he was probably lying when he said that too me, but it was exactly what I needed to hear," Freya said.

"Jasper said you haven't seen him for months," Anna said.

"Yeah, Hans goes around finding and recruiting people for us, he always took me with him but when it came to finding you, he told me to stay behind," Freya said. This was an odd but intriguing detail to Anna.

"So Hans raised you then?" Anna asked.

"He's like a big brother, or father, something like that. I think he's found it harder as I've gotten older. Ha, I know I haven't made it easy for him at times," Freya said.

"I appreciate anyone that gives Hans a hard time," Anna said, they both laughed. They laughed harder than the comment deserved. It was a surreal situation for Anna, she was sitting in the snow talking with a girl raised by someone she had hated. Hans had changed though, whether it was raising a child, time or Freya's influence he was a different person now. She was starting to regret how she treated him up to this point. Her initial suspicion was justified but talking to Freya confirmed how ready to ignore the changes she had seen in her brief time with him.

"Did he ever mention me?" Anna asked.

"On the recruitment trips the odd scrap of his old life came to the surface, I think I was about fifteen when he straight up told me about his crime. It didn't matter to me as Hans had always been there when I needed him. After that he never really mentioned it again," she said.

"So he didn't mention me at all?" Anna said, she wanted to know what Freya knew about her, what Hans could have said.

"You aren't the centre of his life you know," she replied.

"I don't think you get what…" Anna stopped her own snap angry reaction, she realised a bit late that Freya had been joking. She was embarrassed. Freya made a bit of a face but carried on.

"I asked about you a couple of times, he doesn't like to talk about it. He always just dodges my questions on the topic," she said.

"But in a way that you don't realise he avoided the question until a few hours later," Anna said.

"Hans' manipulation of language has gotten the better of me more times than I'd like to admit," Freya said. They both laughed, Anna was actually feeling happy. This was a sensation she had not felt for a long time. She had not even opened the drink she had swiped. It was not much, but just talking like this helped her forget about her worries. She made an effort to keep the conversation going.

"So you want to go out and fight do you?" Anna said.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to watch Hans' back and do message and transport runs but it just feels like we aren't doing much," she said.

"Take it from me, fighting isn't all it's cracked up to be," Anna said. Freya's well-meaning nature was so rare that the last thing Anna wanted to do was push the girl down the same path she had taken, she would never forgive herself if Freya ended up like her.

"You must have some good stories though. Everyday something new, fighting for what's right and living free," Freya said.

"You've probably done more right in just one of those messenger runs than I have in seven years. Truth is I fought to survive, it might be freedom, but it's not a good kind." Freya looked disheartened after hearing this. Anna realised how she was coming across to her, she wanted to do what she could to alleviate the tension.

"Well there was this one time," Anna said, recalling a story that did not romanticize the mercenary lifestyle too much. Freya's face lit up as Anna began her story.

"I had been travelling around with a group of mercs for a month or so, fighting with them and learning the trade. One day I'm minding my own business at our camp when one of the others comes up and says there's a job for me, it had been deemed simple enough to only require one of us. He told me where to go and who to see. So I go on my way and get told by this nervous man that there was an ice-warrior down in his cellar, he had heard it moving around and wanted it gone." She said.

"An ice warrior stuck in a cellar?" Freya said.

"That was the job, he said it must be quite a small one. So I go in, running through every combat scenario I could think of. There wasn't much light in there but there was no immediate sign of life. I'm about to go back up when I hear something moving. I went to investigate, thinking it might be hiding," Freya raised an eyebrow at the hiding comment. Anna continued.

"Yeah I know. Anyway, I go over sword at the ready. I didn't even have a shield back then but I was prepared as I could be when it jumped at me out of the darkness," she said.

"There actually was a small warrior hiding from you in a cellar?" Freya said in disbelief.

"Nope, it turned out this vicious creature I had been so scared of was not an ice-warrior, but a cat," she said. Freya burst out laughing.

"I was so nervous about going solo and fighting one on one with an ice-warrior that I completely failed to notice how nothing added up," Anna said.

"What did you do then?" Freya asked.

"What any self-respecting mercenary would do, let the cat out of the cellar. Told the guy I dealt with the warrior, took the pay and left," she said.

"Wow, your first solo mission against the horror of a feline attacker," Freya said, her laughter had died down but she was still giggling to herself.

"The one who sent me on the job must have known from the start it was nothing. I was annoyed at the time but it certainly shook off my solo jitters," Anna said. She felt like this was the right story, so many others ended badly. That stupid cat provided her with one of the few light-hearted tales she could tell. There was another lull in the conversation, though Freya was looking inquisitive.

"Something on you mind?" Anna asked.

"You're fond of that shied of yours aren't you," she said. This seemed like a non-sequitur until Anna realised she had been idly holding it very tight in front of her, almost hugging the thing.

"This shield has got me through a lot," she said.

"Not a fan of them myself, only slows me down," Freya said.

"Is that right?" Anna said; Freya smirked. She dismissed the annoyance she felt at the cockiness of Freya's comment, she was still young and Anna did not want to look totally jaded.

"The others will probably want us back soon. Well me back anyway," Freya said.

Anna got up.

"Can't keep them waiting if I'm to fix the whole embodiment of the empire thing," she said.

"Go ahead I'll catch up," Freya said. Anna walked off to the cobbler, she looked back at Freya who was watching the light fade from behind the clouds.


	7. Chapter 7

Freya reflected on the conversation as she looked up at the sky. She had always assumed this woman Hans had duped would be a bit dim and someone she could mess with if she got bored enough. After talking to her she came across as an entirely different entity. She was intense to say the least and at times the conversation felt like walking on a tight-rope, one misstep and you're over the edge. Despite this Freya had actually enjoyed her company; it was a fresh perspective and someone new. The strategy to help others but avoid fighting was stagnating the resistance; she had tried to get her point across to them before but it would fall on deaf ears. Now Anna was here that might change.

Hans had never really explained why he refused so adamantly to bring her along on his search for Anna. It suggested just how important she was to their cause. Even if she was wrong about her overall importance Anna's sheer presence could be enough to shake things up enough to start seeing a difference in attitude. The sister of the empress herself was amongst their ranks after all. Freya thought about what she really knew about her, she had a grudge against Hans, was a reclusive royal in Arendelle and had been working as a mercenary. Also her best friend was a shield and she once had a showdown with a cat. Whatever she went through must have been pretty drastic, even by Freya's own standards Anna was a bit odd. She was nowhere near Nat's level though; there was no helping that one.

Getting Anna to fit in would be tricky and was a puzzle that merited some thought. The more she knew about her, the easier it would be to think of something. There was hardly much else going on at the moment so she figured there was no harm in getting straight to it. She sprang up, threw her cloak over her shoulder and strolled back to Sigmund's abode. She preferred walking about at night as it was quieter and felt less exposing. The light was yet to completely fade but she felt more comfortable than when she first stepped outside.

She ignored the usual hostile reception from Sigmund and slid the panel aside herself, he hated it when people did that which only encouraged her to do it more. This staircase was shorter than most of the other hideouts dotted around the land, being so close to Arendelle probably gave them less time to put it together and not digging as deep was a simple corner to cut down the project's completion. As with all staircases she came across she wondered if she could jump down the whole thing in one leap, Hans had always insisted on keeping that question theoretical. The ever familiar door was in front of her; Nat would either be hiding somewhere near it or would ask for a password. Nat's door-quirks were getting increasingly creative so she had to be weary. The time she had jumped down from above the door-frame had nearly given Freya a heart attack. When knocking provided no answer it was now a matter of a cautious approach, she could just walk straight on through but Nat liked these little games and Freya was one of the few that indulged her, to the chagrin of the others. Jasper was okay with her antics but most did their best not to encourage Nat. She stepped through to find a suspiciously thick pile of coats to the left of the entrance. There was a chance it could be a fake-out as Nat got increasingly wily, she watched the pile in her periphery as she walked past. When the pile shifted position Freya knew she had her.

"I know you're in the coats Nat" she said. A coat moved aside and Nat's head emerged from the pile. No-one knew when her birthday was but she was most likely in her early twenties which made her the closest in age to Freya, it was enough of a reason for them to get along.

"Next time," Nat said, coats dropped everywhere as she got out of the pile. She enjoyed the clutter that Nat had just helpfully added to, though soon Hans or Jasper would want it cleared out and organised. She was normally good at judging from Hans' demeanour when boring orders like cleaning up were coming and could make herself scarce before they were spoken.

Hans was nowhere in the big room, he must have still been in the command room with Jasper. She strolled over, knowing she was not supposed to interrupt meetings between the two of them. She usually respected this but it being so long since the last time she saw Hans and Anna being around provided some wiggle-room with them. She noticed Anna had found a corner to skulk in, Anna was inspecting her armour. It looked fancy and the minimal damage suggested Anna could handle herself in a fight, the extensive battle-damage of her shield showed she had been in plenty of them in her time. As for the facial features; when Freya had travelled through war-torn areas with Hans only the dead possessed such markings. It was either a testament to Anna's resilience or something much darker. She did not want to think about it.

When she flung the door open she saw a concerned Jasper, Hans was there but of course his face gave nothing away. He always made the effort to hide his worries from her unless it benefitted him. He knew how she hated it when he would get overprotective, over time the overprotectiveness had not let up. He had, however, gotten a lot better at hiding it.

"What part of don't interrupt meetings with Jasper doesn't apply here?" Hans asked.

"Everyone sitting around idle with a princess in the room isn't exactly the best time to keep us waiting," she said.

"She's not wrong you know," Jasper said.

"Fine, fine. Just let me talk to her okay?" Hans said.

"Alright, I need to check up on Anna anyway," Jasper said.

"What's all this about?" Freya asked once Jasper had left the room.

"I'm guessing you spoke to Anna," Hans said.

"Well I…" she said, before she could finish Hans carried on.

"Don't worry, I'm not annoyed. What do you think of her?" he said.

"I like her, needs to relax a bit though," she said.

"Ha, that's one way of putting it. I doubt she's given herself a chance too for a long time," he said. He paused contemplatively. Freya looked around, unclear of what they were doing.

"Where are we going with this Hans?" she said.

"Big things are in motion and that woman is central to it all," he said.

"We're finally going to take it to those damn imperials," Freya said excitedly. She knew Anna was here to shake things up.

"Something like that, Jasper and I will go over it with everyone shortly," Hans said.

"At last some action. We can show Arendelle they can't push people around and get away with it," she said. Hans seemed much less enthused than she was, he almost appeared absent.

"I've done right by you haven't I?" he said.

"What makes you ask that?" she asked, this was a peculiar turn in conversation even for Hans.

"Seeing and dealing with Anna again is making me feel, for want of a better word, nostalgic." He said. This was a rare moment where Hans was actually being open, the only other time he had been this serious was when he first told her what he did to Anna.

"You pulled me through the darkest time in my life Hans, whatever regrets you might have, none of them should be about me," she said. She tended to downplay or stay vague about Hans' importance in her life and just how long she had been distraught before Hans had gradually pieced her back together. She would still be a hollow, crying wreck without his help and care. She was sure deep down Hans knew this and neither of them were ones for dwelling on their feelings; she wanted to lighten the mood for both their sakes.

"Besides I'd be totally aimless without all those instructions of yours to ignore," she said.

"Yes, maybe one day I won't be able to predict exactly when you'll disobey me," he said.

"Wait. You can't always know how I'll react to things can you?" she said worriedly. Hans was grinning.

"Uh, how did I believe that one?" she said, hitting him lightly.

"I don't think anyone can predict you," he said.

"I like to keep my fans guessing," she said.

"Fans? I thought you were your only fan," he said.

"You can pretend you and Jasper aren't my biggest fans but I know the truth," she said.

"You think whatever you like to feel good about yourself," he said.

"Oh I will," she said. This is what she had missed most, the times where she and Hans just clicked.

"Give it some time and you could probably add Anna to that fan club of yours. After a conversation with you her vibe has probably gone from "I will murder everyone" down to "I might hurt some of you"," he said.

"I learned my charm from the best," she said.

"I'm sorry I didn't take you with me to find her," he said, part of her wanted to ask why he had left her behind. She refrained as she wanted to keep the happy mood between them. She also did not want to detract from what she had said to him earlier by questioning him now. He would have his reasons, he always acted with her safety in mind, sometimes so much so she felt a bit held back but she knew it was from a good place. She hugged him.

"Come on then, they're probably waiting on us," he said.

The scene they opened the door to was a familiar one, Anna was squaring off with someone. Anna's latest spat was with Anton. He was an older man, his family died due to the famine caused by the initial harsher winters Elsa set in place when Arendelle was first securing its dominance over the land. He was less than happy with their latest guest's presence and would be less easily swayed by anyone else's influence.

"I'm not going to put up with an imperial witch," he said. There was a rabble of agreement from those around him.

"I'm no imperial and I am no witch," Anna said, her nostrils were flaring.

"We're close to doing something very stupid here," Hans said.

"I trust her, stand down," Jasper said.

"Why should you, why should any of us? We all deserve a place here. She's got the blood of thousands on her hands," Anton said.

"I am not my sister," Anna said slowly, it looked like she was about to growl at him. The tension was reaching breaking point. The only person not participating in this conflict was Nat. She was covering her ears and facing the ground, emotional conflict between others was beyond her comprehension. Freya knew if she stood back and did nothing, everything could fall apart. Anna also deserved better treatment than this, they had to be better than the imperials, more tolerant, otherwise the resistance's cause would be tainted.

"I vouch for Anna," Freya said. Her voice carried through the bickering.

"Stay out of this, child," Anton said.

"No. You and me in the ring. If I win you treat Anna like any one of us," she said. Anton was a proud sort and obsessed with honour so would take the bait. However he was also an expert combatant. Freya won more than she lost in the ring but had always managed to avoid Anton, he was undefeated apart from one or two fights with Nat, but she was so wild when she fought that everyone had at least one loss in their column courtesy of Nat. There were only rumours as to where he got his fighting prowess from.

"You challenge me?" Anton was in disbelief. "Very well, I will dispatch you quickly and then deal with Elsa's underling," he said.

She looked over at Anna, who seemed more intrigued than worried or angry now. Hans stepped in front of Freya, putting his hands on her shoulders and looking her right in the eyes.

"You don't have to do this," he said quietly.

"I know what I'm doing," she said, this was a lie.

"Let her fight," Jasper said from behind them. Hans closed his eyes.

"Just be careful kid," he said as he stepped out of the way. Freya stepped forward unsure of just what she had gotten herself into.


	8. Chapter 8

The small crowd in the room had taken a step back to let it all happen. Even Nat had perked up again as she enjoyed the fights in the ring, she possessed the odd combination of loving every minute of combat but breaking down at any slight hint of emotional turmoil. Freya was right about this distracting from the tension as they all looked on. She looked over at Hans; his expression was surprisingly encouraging all things considered. It was unclear whether it was real confidence or if he was doing it for her benefit, even after all this time it was hard to tell the real from the fake. Anna's expression was completely different, it looked like she was analysing every move Freya made. Being the attention of such a gaze was uncomfortable to say the least, she was sure Anna had not blinked the whole time. This was all for her after all, yet she said nothing and merely observed from afar.

Anton went for a standard sword and shield. Freya hated the wooden weapons, their weight always felt wrong and it threw her balance off at times. She picked two long daggers, she held them backhand and made sure to switch up her grip as well as her stance regularly when she fought. Anton would fight to his full ability and snarky comments or trash-talk would have no effect, if anything it would just make her look daft so she refrained. They now stood at opposite sides of the ring. They stared at across in an effort to work each other out. From what she had seen Anton's success came from his consistency, surprises from him were rare and largely unnecessary.

The noise from the audience died down as Jasper stepped forward.

"I don't want either of you hurt, one killing blow and then it's over," he said. "Wait for my signal."

This worked in her favour; she would just need to catch him out once to win this. As they continued to stare each other down this bout became as much about pride to Freya as it was about helping Anna. Jasper hopped out, once he was clear the word "begin" rung in her ears.

She immediately moved to the centre where there was more room to manoeuvre. Her opponent stepped forward slowly but purposefully. Freya's game plan was simple in theory, stay light on her feet. If she kept moving a chance would arise. He threw out a high jab with the blade. Freya side-stepped and gave his shield a hit for good measure. His grip was strong; it would take more than a few light attacks to challenge his defence directly. She ducked under a horizontal slash and pivoted away from a quick follow-up stab. She shifted back to put some space between them, Anton was measuring her as well, seeing exactly what he was dealing with. He lunged forward. She spun avoiding the blade and threw out an attack of her own. The strike she threw out met Anton's shield. He then forced his weight forward and pushed her back with the shield, she back-stepped gracefully as the two paused in their stances. Freya briefly took in her surroundings, the small crowd was captivated. Win or lose, the way she would almost dance around the ring tended to catch the eye of those around her and the fact this fight had a lot riding on it only added to the spectacle. The pressure of it was nagging at her slightly but she put her thoughts aside as Anton stepped forward for another attack.

It was a stalemate of continued attacks that she would artfully dodge and counter into a strong defence. She doubted that more than a minute had even passed but the pace of the fight was constantly quickening. Her opponent was doing what he could to catch her out; Freya had remarkable reactions and the speed to match forcing Anton to be increasingly aggressive. A high thrust of the blade from Anton was where she finally saw an opening. He misjudged the distance of a lunge and over-extended his stance slightly, leaving his back leg further from his body than usual. She moved toward him, in one motion evading the blade and sweeping away his leg from underneath him. He fell back onto his knee. He was off-balance so now was the time to strike, but her manoeuvring had caused her to be facing away from him. She turned at the awkward angle to go for a winning strike. As she dived in, Anton managed to re-adjust himself. She had gone all in on this attack and could only watch as a shield was raised in her path. She crashed into it as Anton used the momentum to throw her over himself. In the blink of an eye she had gone from jumping at him to on the floor with a wooden sword touching her neck. It scratched at her skin as Anton stood over her with a stern expression.

"You'd be wise not to challenge me again whelp," he said as he threw down the wooden weapons. The fight's end caused a commotion as the spectators were drummed up into a hive of excited activity. Freya stayed on the floor, staring up at the ceiling going over how she had gotten so close to winning. Anna popped into her vision, she appeared upside-down and was looking right at her.

"I'm sorry," Freya said, Anna walked around to the right side of her and offered a hand which Freya took. The rest of the room was still a hub of noise and activity around them. As Freya was pulled up, Anna leaned in close and spoke softly,

"That fight was yours you know," Anna said.

"Sure doesn't feel like it," Freya said brushing herself off.

"You were impatient, going for it all on half a chance. If you'd reset your stance before re-engaging he'd have been on the back foot and you could have forced a real chance to strike on the next one or two attacks," she said.

"I guess," Freya said. Battle strategy was the last thing she felt like listening too. Anna sighed.

"It's important to you I'm accepted by these people isn't it?" she said.

"And to Hans," Freya said.

"You really think telling them why I left the empire will help?" she said.

"It can't hurt," Freya said. Of course it depended on the story, resistance types were usually pretty open and accepting but Anna was an entirely different case. If anything it could give her some credibility if respect or acceptance were off the table. Anna stood in the centre of the ring and took a deep breath. She looked slightly nervous, it was not a look that suited her but she soon shook it off and returned to her usual scowl.

"It's my turn to speak," she said, this got the attention of the room cutting off the humdrum of activity so suddenly that even Jasper was surprised. She commanded a level of attention with almost no effort; it was impressive if not worrying.

"Done letting a child fight your battles for you?" Anton remarked. Anna ignored it

"Most of you here have no reason to trust me, but I simply ask that you listen," she said.

"Your empire never gave us a chance," a voice from the crowd called out amongst other jeers, it sounded like Tobi, Freya did not like Tobi very much. Anton raised his hand to silence them.

"I will listen to have you have to say," he said, stubborn honour had its uses. This was enough to get most on board to listen but there was still a comment or two that slipped through. Anna closed her eyes and took a few seconds to gather herself and let the negative comments die down. She opened her eyes and began speaking.

"Despite what you may think I have no loyalty to the empire. I was in the palace for years watching my sister unravel. The lands froze and people died as she showed less compassion for anyone and anything. I was not alone in this, the man I loved not only had to go through a life-long friend dying but also watched me suffer through my sister losing grip on her own sanity. He took matters into his own hands, he knew the trolls from the Valley of the Living Rock well and sought them out to try and heal Elsa. He was convinced her violent and paranoid was the magic influencing her mind," Anna paused; she remained stoic as she recalled these events.

"Elsa had eyes and ears everywhere, she discovered his intentions. She hunted down the trolls and froze every one of them she came across; she keeps them as trophies now. As for Kristoff…" she wavered momentarily but kept her overall composure.

"The man I loved was executed for plotting against the Empress. That is the day I had nothing left. The man I intended to marry was killed and any hope for my sister's redemption was crushed in that brutal moment when the axe fell. I left the empire and never looked back that same day." She then unsheathed her sword and stuck it in the ground in front of her.

"You don't have to like me, you don't even have to respect me but if you imply for one second that I don't deserve to be amongst you then you should try and strike me down right here, right now," she said. Hushed murmurs followed, Freya's heart skipped a beat when Anton stepped forward and took the sword.

"I will not forgive you for your idleness when Arendelle destroyed this world," he said. He held the blade flat in his hands, then offered the hilt back to Anna.

"But I will stand by you in your fight to make it right," he said. Anna took the sword and gave him a slight nod. Freya exhaled loudly in relief. Even after all that seriousness, now all Freya could think about was who would win in a fight between Anton and Anna. Despite not seeing her in action yet she reckoned Anna would win, she could out-stern Anton at the very least. Freya knew she would have to ask Anna about this Kristoff guy later, she doubted it was easy to tell a bunch of hostile strangers that sort of thing and would want to talk about the whole experience now it was out, even if she pretended otherwise. Freya had the advantage of being a child and everyone already knowing her story when she first emerged, she had sympathy and no responsibility by default.

Freya went over to Jasper.

"You think everyone will be okay with Anna now?" she asked.

"They'll be one or two who might kick up a fuss but I'll set them straight," he said. Something occurred to her, Jasper would still have been in the guard when it all went down.

"You must have known all that stuff, why have you never said anything before to smooth things over?" she said.

"Not my story to tell kid, that's the kind of stuff people have a right to keep to themselves," he said.

"I think she did want to keep it to herself to be honest," she said.

"Ha, I think your little stunt played a large part in convincing her to tell everyone. Anyway Hans and I have a plan to sort with everyone so you can get going," he said. This was it, the big plan that she was so excited to hear about. She had helped put it in place as well, she may have lost her fight but she had won Anna over. Freya hopped up onto a box and eagerly anticipated the coming meeting.


	9. Chapter 9

Freya was swinging her legs impatiently as the rabble calmed down and Jasper was getting some sort of order in the room. Nat had planted herself next to her and started swinging her legs at the same rhythm.

"You guys are done fighting now," Nat said.

"Yes, no more arguing," Freya said as reassuringly as possible.

"Good," Nat said. She stopped swinging and looked inquisitive; Freya could almost hear the cogs whirring in her head.

"The scarred lady is scary," she finally said.

"She's alright, just has a lot of reasons to be scary," Freya said.

"She looks like a cold one but she's warm. At least she's warm," Nat said.

"I guess so," Freya found it easiest to pretend to understand what Nat would say. In the past she tried to get her to elaborate on some of the things she said, it always ended up making less sense or caused Nat to start panicking uncontrollably. Having just spoken about Anna, Freya looked around for her. She was conspicuously missing. Part of her wanted to get up and look for her but she would risk missing the plan briefing.

"Did you see where the scarred lady went?" Freya asked. Nat pointed to the command room door with her bare foot, she rarely wore footwear.

"Hans is in there too," she said.

Anna was probably getting her own briefing which made sense if her role was as big as was let on. The room had finally gotten quiet enough for Jasper.

"Alright everyone, I'll cut to the chase. I know Hans and I have been very quiet, particularly in these past few months. The truth of the matter is we're going to Arendelle itself. Everything said here must not leave this room at any cost and we'll be operating on a need to know basis. This is far too important to let it slip, is that clear?" This was met with a few grunts and some yeses from everyone listening.

"Soon we're going to head out to the capital. Large numbers of people move in and out of the city every day, other cells will take advantage of this and move in one by one, some are there now and some are on the way as we speak. They are there to cause as much chaos as possible over every inch of the city once a signal is given." He said.

"Other cells? What will we be doing?" Tobi asked, he had a habit of interrupting.

"All of you gathered here are the strongest fighters and guardians the resistance has to offer. Some of you will disapprove of this but you must carry out this task to the best of your ability. You must follow and protect Anna at all costs," he said.

"Why does she get such special treatment?" a voice chimed in.

"She's an important asset, more than that I can't say," Jasper said. The speed in which they were mobilising for this was incredible. Anna had only just showed up let alone the fact she had been accepted by the people in this room only a few minutes ago, moving this fast seemed like a big risk even to Freya.

"Before anyone thinks to question this order, just know it comes directly from Hans and me. If you trust us then for all your sakes do not pry into this. You will be informed when we move out, until then be ready to move at a moment's notice," he finished. Freya was disappointed with how uninformative Jasper had been. He moved off and was now talking to everyone individually. She might be able to get more out of in when it was her turn. For now she turned to see a smiling Nat.

"Protecting each other for the coming storm," Nat said. Freya just let the statement hang in the air as she kept an eye on Jasper. He had to deal with a couple of disgruntled souls but most seemed content to simply acknowledge his orders, so he was moving round the room at a decent pace. Most were satisfied enough to go about their business once Jasper had spoken to them personally, she was glad to see almost no-one was kicking up much of a fuss or arguing about their assignment to be Anna's bodyguards. Jasper made his way over to Nat.

"Are you okay to go back there?" He asked. Nat just nodded sheepishly, she was always a little more timid around jasper but judging by the looks on both of their faces this was a much bigger question than it appeared to be. They exchanged a wordless conversation with their eyes, after a few seconds he smiled patted her on the shoulder. He was then hesitant to move on to Freya, she could see by his face she was not going to like what he had to say. Was she going to be stuck with one of the other, less important cells?

"Freya, I… you…" he was struggling to pick his words. Jasper was usually the epitome of confidence and control but when it came to delivering orders Freya would hate, he came across as less than sure.

"Out with it," she said.

"Freya, you will be staying put."

What?" she said.

"When we mobilise you are to stay here, we need you and Sigmund to co-ordinate any stragglers," he said.

"This better be some sort of joke," she had been prepared to argue about a less important role but to have been given a glorified version of sitting around and doing nothing was far worse than she could have imagined.

"That's your job in this," he said. Freya wanted to argue with him but she knew who was really responsible. She let Jasper move on and shot over to the command room's door, it was locked. Knocking was given no response so she knocked much harder. When nothing continued to happen she started punching at it continuously, willing to knock the damn thing down if she had to. If Hans tried to ignore his way out of this one it would end very badly, she would make sure of that. Freya looked over to Jasper who had been watching her sullenly, but did not have it in him to look her in the eye. Freya was making a scene but refused to let that stop her. However before she escalated things she heard the lock unlatch, there was no way Hans would cave this quickly if at all. This suspicion was confirmed when she discovered Anna was the one who had opened it for her. She moved in swiftly.

"Nothing. You have me here doing nothing," she said. She made sure not to shout, Hans had drilled that shouting got you nowhere since they first started travelling together. Hans sat in silence with a steely expression. Anna had closed the door behind Freya when she stepped in.

"She deserves an explanation," Anna said to Hans. He looked less than appreciative of being undermined, but stayed quiet.

"If you don't say anything I will," Anna said. After some internal speculation he spoke.

"So be it," Hans said. "You're staying behind because I don't want you getting killed,"

"I've done my fair share of dangerous missions," Freya said.

"This is different and you know it," Hans' expression and tone were unyielding.

"You're just holding me back because you're scared," she said.

"You're right, I am scared. If you had any sense you would be too," she said.

"I'm willing to fight and die for this cause," she said.

"I'm doing this to stop you doing just that, you're too young to understand what it is to die for a cause," he said. This deflated her, people saw her as a child out of her depth a lot. She was used to it but it hurt the most on the occasions Hans would imply it, but now he was directly saying it. Anna had stayed quiet during this spat. Freya had been watching her in the corner of her eye throughout. She had been badly pretending to study a set of maps laid out in front of her but it was now that she decided to step in.

"This isn't just a dangerous plan, Freya. It's the only plan," Anna said.

"All the more reason to keep me off the side-lines" Freya responded, not quite getting the point Anna was trying to get across.

"If this fails, we're done for. No more resistance, no chance of anyone fighting for themselves again. Everyone dies and the resistance is buried. I can't let you take this sort of risk when you have your whole life ahead of you. I won't," Hans said.

"But I…" Freya said.

"Our numbers dwindle rapidly by the day as Elsa's network ruthlessly hunts our cells down, we have to move everyone now to stand even a slight chance," Hans interrupted.

"Why is this so final?" Freya asked. Jasper and Hans had refused to risk lives unnecessarily and now she was suddenly hearing of a mission of such a magnitude, it was almost unthinkable. Anna took over for Hans.

"Elsa's army is infinite and unnatural. There's no way to whittle them down. They don't eat so we can't attack their supplies. They're everywhere so we can't cut off transport links. They feel nothing so we can't crush their morale and for every one we kill Elsa can make ten more. These two held everyone back as they had no other choice," she said.

"So what's the point of any of this? With that sort of thinking you should have all given up years ago," Freya said.

"It's a distraction," Anna said, Hans shot her a look, which Anna promptly ignored. "Whilst all hands are on deck in the city, this cell is aiming for the heart of the empire itself."

Freya's eyes widened, she meant Elsa. Anna was leading a team to assassinate the Empress.

"How?" was the only word she could splutter out upon learning this.

"I'll be leading a team through network of secret tunnels leading up to the palace," Anna said.

"Ones from when you were in Arendelle? Surely no-one here has seen or used them in years?" Freya said.

"We're pretty much going in blind," she replied. Freya was beginning to understand Hans' reluctance, this sounded like a suicide mission. Even so, there was no way she would sit out on the resistance's defining moment.

"You're not coming with us," Hans reiterated. Freya looked over to Anna, hoping she would help her convince him otherwise but all Anna did was give a slight shrug and went back to studying the maps. These maps were presumably of the tunnel network, Jasper would have known about them from his imperial days as well. Anna had laid them out very clearly for herself so Freya looked them over a subtly as she could whilst she was stood there.

"Freya, do this for me. If you died and I survived…" Hans said, not wanting to continue. Freya felt defeated and had nothing left to say, Hans' needed her to stay out of this and learning just how desperate the resistance's hopes were meant all she felt she could do was turn around and leave them to it.

"Just so you know, it'll take a day or two to get everyone in place fully," Anna said to her as Freya left. Freya closed the door behind her, leaving Hans and Anna to their work.

"You okay?" Jasper asked as she re-emerged from the command room.

"No," she said.

"I get it, but there's no changing Hans' mind and even I'm inclined to agree with him. We can't have you getting lost and dying amongst all the chaos. We'd be as bad as those imps if we used soldiers as young as you for an operation like this," he stopped, he knew he had said enough already.

"Why'd you bring me here if this was your intention all along, if you wanted to carry this out without me?" Freya asked.

"I had to let you see Hans. He also needed to see you before going through with this whether he would admit it or not. Behind that unreadable face of his is a man that loves you more than anything, trust me on that," he said. Jaspers words were salving, she knew it all really but hearing it from him threw it into perspective. She and Hans really were family. There must be a way she could help protect him without taking part in this final assault. She just needed to piece something together.

Freya walked out, the humdrum of white noise and activity as everyone prepared their gear washed over her. The determined looks and impatient fidgeting took hold of everyone in the room. Some had started cooking, the smells of meats and the taste of various spices in the air suddenly felt more meaningful to her. She knew that for the people here it could be one of their last meals. She had to come to terms with the fact she would not be amongst them at the end of it all. However she set aside her anguish, for an idea had popped into her head. She would respect the wishes of Hans and Jasper, she owed them that. A couple of days was a very short turn-around for such a large scale operation but it gave her enough time. Freya headed towards the exit-door with a renewed sense of purpose. There was no room for doubt or second thoughts as she made her way outside. As if this moment she had never been surer of what she had to do, determinedly heading out into the cold breeze and seeing sunless sky looming over her.


	10. Chapter 10

The stables would be unattended at this point. The general weather conditions and lack of resources available meant most animals were reserved strictly for farm work purposes. However resistance cells usually managed to procure a couple in case of emergency. It was a risk to take one but it was the only way to guarantee she would be able to do this in time. The horse would draw attention so when she got close to her destination she would have to send it back on its way, it would follow the path back on its own. She certainly had no problem with their usefulness but Freya hated travelling on horseback, having your own feet under you when moving was the way she liked it. Although Hans had taught her enough to get by, the inexperience she had had with the creatures always irked her. The only way to improve would have been to practice but the rarity of horses and the conspicuousness of riding one out in the open for all to see meant she rarely got the chance. Hans had always wanted to teach her more than he could, he would describe them as noble and majestic. Freya wondered what all the fuss about them was and just thought they were ugly and smelled awful. She opened up one of the gates and tentatively approached a horse; she saddled it up and climbed on board. The long white cloak she had picked up on her way out of Sigmund's draped over the creature. She was amazed that she did not get it tangled in her ungraceful climb onto the horse's back. She moved it out slowly. once she reached the village limits she could go full speed. If she was quiet, and lucky, everyone would think she had just wandered off aimlessly in a huff and would eventually come back, this would not be the first time she had done that after-all.

Of course what she was actually doing was nothing of the sort. Her decision was to head straight to Arendelle itself. Anna had said that they were going in blind, Freya could change that. Having spotted and memorised the tunnel entrances on the table maps she knew she could seek them out and scout them for Anna's team. Anything could have changed since the last time Jasper or Anna saw them. If Freya could provide some up-to-date information, maybe even map the tunnels out she would feel like she at least contributed to the resistance's big gambit. She would not be there for the final fight with him but she would do everything in her power to increase Hans' chance of success, his chance of survival.

Freya was sure she got out of the village unnoticed, she avoided Sigmund's window and the rest of the cell would be inside waiting for the word to move out. When she was clear she let the horse pick up speed until it was at a full gallop. Though she had pictured herself as the determined adventurer it now felt more like she was clinging on for dear life as the powerful animal took her at an alarming pace towards the Empire's epicentre. Even with the occasional sign, the path was difficult to follow under the layers of snow. It was also difficult to keep track of the landscape as Freya devoted almost all of her energy to staying on the horse, she would have to trust this thing to keep her vaguely on the right path.

The village they had been set up in was out of the way but she had to keep an eye out for when the path connected up to the main road network so she could dismount in time. If anyone official saw the horse this would be over before it began. There was a creeping anxiety whilst she travelled, there had been no doubt that she was doing the right thing but her certainty failed to quell the nerves as the vague shapes of groups, caravans and military escorts emerged from the horizon. At least she was done with the horse. She sent it on its way; hopefully people would just assume it got out by accident. It was too late for anyone to stop her now anyway, even if they had worked out what she was up to. Anyone but herself, this was the best point to turn back. She considered how Hans would certainly disapprove of this but shook it off. This was for him and she would not let guilt stop her. The relative safety of what she was doing compared to what the other cells would go through would have to be enough to keep him satisfied, all the others would have to face the worst this world would have to offer and she was essentially just having a look around before the real fight began.

She approached the main road quickly as being out in the open for a prolonged amount of time could give the game away. She slipped into one of the caravan groups, placing herself next to a cart being pulled by a few people. It was a blind spot from most angles and the fact she was quite slender and young would prevent any questions for the lack of help she was providing for the physical labour. The cloak was doing its job as she remained inconspicuous amongst the crowd and the city was rapidly approaching as they journeyed on. She had heard stories of how impressive the capital was but whilst the task at hand may have accentuated her feelings, seeing it for the first time showed that words failed to do it justice on just how ominous it came across as. What struck her first were the high stone walls around the city and the huge Arendelle flags draping down from them. These signs and the enormous area the walls covered was a show to anyone approaching of how things were, the structures demanded those who saw them to know their place. The only structures tall enough to be seen over the wall were large spires off in the distance. They rose up to meet the black clouds that loomed over as far as the eye could see.

The main road branched out into several small gates spaced intermittently along the walls. Each one was guarded by imperial officers and they greeted each person who entered. They were polite and upbeat which was one of the more bewildering elements Freya had to put up with considering how menacing the city looked from afar and how officers usually behaved. There were no ice-based monsters anywhere in sight either. She got through a gate to the city unchallenged and was met only by a smiling imperial guard welcoming her to "the jewel of the empire." She broke off from the group she had hidden with once through the gate.

The story inside the walls was totally different from what could be seen from afar. The outer ring of the city was dedicated to market places and vendors. It was open plan and spacious enough to move freely even with the large population. Cheerful shopkeepers had stalls with plentiful supplies of luxury items such as fur and jewellery, even the simplest of food stalls were packed with the likes of fresh fruit and perishable food supplies that Freya previously thought were such rarities. Well-dressed people darted back and forth between the stands buying up excessive amounts of these items without a second's thought. Freya continued through the city, wanting to get an idea of the general layout for when she had to leave. She came across what looked like a living quarter, these houses seemed to gleam as neighbours chatted and tended to their homes. Freya could see fireplaces and leather-seating through the windows. All these people lived in a bubble of luxurious living and as she explored the area she found these were the smaller houses the city had to offer. She pressed on through the city, the tunnel entrances were much closer to the central hub and Freya was still only in the outer sections. She found a series of paths and bridges connecting to the inner-hub of the city; it looked like they were built over what once was a lake. These paths interconnected between small circular islands with ice-sculptures of different varieties at the centre of each one. These paths were narrow so she had to move quite slowly as people shuffled around, some stopped to admire the sculptures but most were determined to be wherever it was they needed to be. The final little island she came across before the city's inner hub had a very particular sculpture. The plaque underneath it read "Our protector, our Empress," and the sculpture depicted her armour-clad and in a triumphant pose. A chill went down as she looked into the sculpture's eyes; despite its lifelessness it still had a fraction of the Empress' presence. Even this small fraction was enough to set Freya on edge. She looked across all the islands closest to the inner-hub to see each one had a sculpture of Elsa. The next island across had a sculpture of her crouching down with an open hand, the plaque was too far away to read. The reason they were here was either vanity or propaganda, Freya figured it was probably both.

She had made it through the slow winding paths of the lake to the inner-hub. This was where Arendelle showed off its full extravagance. It was a giant open space leading up to the palace, it was a puzzle of intricate tile-work depicting various landscapes of the more attractive parts of the empire with Arendelle's crest in the centre of it all. Even the ground here had been transformed into artwork. The idyllic and glorious atmosphere the city emanated only served to make Freya feel sick. Everyone else suffered, her entire country was destroyed and the few resources the regime allowed to be produced were all being pumped into the capital as the rest had to live off the scraps.

What stood at the end of the wide expanse of artwork floors was in stark contrast to the rest of the city, the imperial palace was the true representation of Arendelle's rule as it matched the menacing aesthetic of the walls surrounding the outer-limits. The entrance and front section of it looked quite standard, there were a few stained-glass windows but it looked like it matched that of the rest of the city. It was what was attached behind it that showed the true nature of the empire. There was a sprawling collection of interconnecting towers and spires which were a twisted intertwining of ice and stone that stretched far back into the mountains, some even seemed to sink into them. Each one lead back to the tallest central spire that overlooked the entire city, the small amount of light shining through the clouds danced and reflected from the towers and their buttresses. The chaotic nature of the upper-structures suggested that an architect had no hand in their design, or if one did they were not in their right mind. So enthralled by the intricacies of this freakish building, Freya realised she had failed to look out for any signs of tunnel entrances. The maps marked them out to the sides of the palace, rocky wall sections where the mountainous areas crept into the cities architecture, the city had expanded out so much that it enveloped the natural landscape. The way the palace itself was almost part of the mountain meant these tunnels could lead just about anywhere. She would have to keep careful track of her footsteps and hoped her general sense of direction would be up to the task of keeping her bearings in relation to the city. The population had already thinned out a bit when she got to the inner-hub but as she approached the areas marked out on the maps it became less and less crowded until the section she was in was totally devoid of people. There was nothing here to be around for, maybe she was lucky no-one was around to see her snooping or maybe the populace knew better than to hang around in these parts. There was no clear sign of any tunnel entrances, Freya then reminded herself these were secret tunnels and examined much closer, running her hands along the walls. She was working off crudely drawn maps from memory with a lack of any other information. Regrets that started to worm their way into her mind quickly dissipated when she felt a section of the wall that was suspiciously loose. She triumphantly pressed it in. Nothing happened. She concluded it was no coincidence that this section of the wall so close to a marked secret tunnel entrance was loose and tried pressing it again. She folded her arms in an annoyed manner when she got the same result as before.

"Why aren't you working?" She muttered under her breath. As her thoughts got carried away that maybe there was some special key or there was a combination of loose stones that needed to be pressed in order, she remembered something Hans would say to her.

"Eliminate the obvious solutions first, the one who tries too hard on the simple is the one who achieves nothing and looks stupid for it." She reached back to the loose section and pulled instead of pushed, still nothing. There was a brief interlude of wondering if temperature had anything to do with it before she snapped back to Hans' words of wisdom. She also realised the longer she loitered trying to think of solutions, the more she risked detection so any elaborate mechanisms were to be avoided anyway. She went and twisted the loose section clockwise. A wave of satisfaction washed over her as an entrance slid open in front of her. The satisfaction promptly vanished as a dark unknown expanded out before her. The air coming out of it was cold even by the permanent winter's standards, but she had come too far to turn back now. She took a deep breath and stepped into the freezing darkness of the tunnel.


	11. Chapter 11

Freya made her first few tentative steps into the uninviting maw of the tunnel. The entrance closed behind her, more quickly than she was prepared for. The only light was flickering far off in the distance; she would have to head toward it and hope for the best. If the entire network was this dark scouting this place would be difficult. One of her feet slid from under her but she managed to stay quiet as she caught herself from falling. Upon closer inspection in the she saw the floor transitioned to pure ice. This forced her to take measured steps toward the light. Running at full speed would be out of the question due to the concentration required for footwork.

Her feet and hands began to numb as she carefully made her way forward, getting deeper into the cave-like tunnel she could feel the air irritate her skin with the increasingly chilling temperature. She rubbed her hands and blew on them in an attempt to return some feeling in them, the light rush of air echoing its way through the tunnel. She watched the steam from her breath rise to the ceiling in the dim light.

When she reached the torch that had been guiding her she got up close to the flame but to her dismay it produced no heat, yet another reason to hate the magic the Empress threw around or whatever it was that kept this blasted flame from doing half its job. She took it from the wall as it would at least light the way. She had to focus hard on gripping the wretched thing with such little feeling in her hands. She cursed the flame's refusal to help with the cold. Having put so much focus into letting the flame know her disappointment in it she was startled to suddenly be face to face with someone. After letting out a small yelp, stepping back and nearly slipping over again, it turned out just to be another sculpture. She did not recognise who the sculpture was supposed to resemble and moved on only to discover there were dozens of these sculptures spaced sporadically throughout the tunnels. They were all of people but there were no familiar faces amongst them, she wondered what purpose they were supposed to serve; decorating secret tunnels in the same manner as the city seemed redundant.

The placement of cold torches was becoming more generous as she advanced. More sculptures and branching paths were revealed along the way. Freya decided to stick to the left wall, keeping her route simple was the most effective way not to get lost in a potential labyrinth and there was no-way of knowing where these branching tunnels could lead. The ground of pure ice, numbness in her feet and thinking of the potential dangers frustrated Freya to no end. She wanted to throw caution to the wind, explore quickly and get out. Instead she was forced to creep around a dark, freezing atmosphere. She knew she could not get careless, as much as she wanted too. Her lack of patience cost her against Anton and any information gathered would be worthless if she failed to get out of this place in time.

Freya stopped dead, she had heard something. Unsure of the sound she started to listen intently. Some muttering was echoing through the caves and it was getting louder. Someone else was in these tunnels and they were getting closer. Freya slotted her torch into the wall and tactically moved some others around to provide a dark spot to crouch down in. Whoever it was had come close enough for the muttering to become clear.

"I am weak, but my faith is strong. In the halls of the frozen I will ascend," bounced around the walls over and over again. The man saying it came out of one of the side passages and turned in her direction. Freya stayed still and held her breath, the sound or the steam from it could give her away. He turned to her direction, Freya relying on the darkness to stay hidden. She was sure the man was looking directly at her but when he stepped forward into a well-lit section she got a brief view of the stranger. He wore only a thin green robe and had a pale face with eyes of pure white. He walked so close to her that when he went passed Freya, she had to squeeze into the wall as much as possible to avoid being hit by him. He was still muttering the same line to himself as he passed her. Freya decided to follow him, he might lead her somewhere interesting and his clothing suggested there could be warmer locations nearby.

She kept her distance, moving between darker areas behind him and making sure to avoid walking into the strange sculptures. She was rewarded for her caution as a pale-faced woman coming from the other direction addressed the man. She had been walking with her hands underneath the large sleeves or her blue robe. Her hands were revealed as she put them on the man's shoulders; Freya was surprised to see they were the same ice-blue as Anna's scarring and claw-like.

"You have been blessed, brother" the woman said before darting through one of the off-shoot tunnels. Freya waited to make sure the woman would not come back the same way. Despite her caution she concluded that observation was not a strong point for these tunnel-dwellers. They also seemed delusional in their demeanour; Freya started to think it might be the tunnel network's influence itself. Her strength had been sapping the whole time she was here and it became increasingly difficult to concentrate on the task at hand. The cold was taking its toll and Freya knew nothing of magic, it could be a magical influence was down here affecting her. Avoiding ending up in a lost state of mind was now of the utmost importance. If following this man was fruitless in the next few minutes Freya would turn back. There was no way to tell if the tunnel had mind bending properties but the risk was too high to stick around and find out.

Just as she was about to give up on the man, he stopped moving. It was a poorly lit area so it was hard to tell what had brought this on. Freya observed for a moment, it was still hard to think clearly so she forced herself to focus. She noticed that even the muttering had stopped. Something was wrong here so she grabbed a torch from the wall to approach the now still and silent man. The light reflected off a translucent blue robe, in her state it took Freya a moment to realise this was different to before. She got closer to discover the robe was not alone in this transformation. His entire being was now ice and in that moment the sculptures made sense. Each one had been a living person wandering the tunnels, slowly shuffling through until they became these gruesome statues. With her ability to think rationally shot, terror took hold of Freya's heart as she realised how much death was haunting this whole network. Freya dropped the torch and ran; her exhausted and numb feet meant she slipped regularly. Too disorientated and scared to take note of which direction she was running in she soldiered forward. Mercifully she came across some natural light glowing in from a side-tunnel. Freya made her way to it instinctively, no longer caring about being noticed or maintaining subtlety. She just had to be away from the ghoulish sculptures and the hysteria inducing aura the tunnels had had on her. She finally got out, lucky enough to remain undiscovered in her dash to freedom. The cold air outside the tunnel was much less punishing and the ground beneath her had stonework built into it. Freya sat in an inviting looking nook to sit down in. She curled up and allowed herself a few minutes to recompose herself.

She started to see things clearly and gradually returned to coherent thinking again. She was still perturbed by that cave of the dead, she always forced herself not to let death bother her but she had been overwhelmed but what she had seen. She knew she had to shake it off, knew she was stronger than this. That cave's ghastly aura must have affected her and she refused to believe otherwise.

The stonework around her was surprisingly reassuring after what she had just been through. She got up and looked out of an opening to see the city bustling below her. She was in one of the palace spires. It was conspicuously empty which was pleasant for her, having expected to see a wealth of nightmares to be roaming the bridges and towers. Scouting further into the palace seemed like the most constructive course of action as she wanted some time before tackling the tunnels again, she could even look for alternative methods of leaving.

"Another way to get in or out of this place would be useful for Anna," she quietly justified to herself.

She entered a new spire, the bridge across was quite short and had no railings. Freya looked over the side to see jagged rocks and the mountain's edge. She was grateful she could trust her feet on this ground rather than the numb slipping of the cave as there was nothing to prevent an accidental slip turning into a messy landing below. It could be useful to draw fights out to one of these bridges if something went wrong. She pressed on, every bridge leading to a new tower with varying levels of ice built into them; each were round rooms with stone floors and filled with assorted decoration. There were suits of armour, paintings and she recognised some of the more famous spoils of war. Some were even iconic works from the Southern isles that she had seen as a child. Now they were claimed as trophies for the inner-sanctum of the regime that destroyed their home.

The aesthetic changed as she ventured further across the tower structures, the ice became more prominent as spikes protruded from increasingly careless designs. The fancy decorations had gone, there was only one she saw this far up. Two torches each side of a painting, the sitting girl was smiling at her and the straight red hair was draped past her shoulders. The fresh face displayed a happy innocence and her bright green eyes were wide and gleeful. If it were not for a content looking Elsa standing to her right with a hand on her shoulder, Freya probably would have failed to recognise that this girl was Anna. The left side of the painting looked damaged and the picture frame cut off a fraction of Anna's left side. Freya stared at the dainty girl in the picture; she could hardly believe this was the same person as the one she had met recently. The lack of scars and slimmer frame looked odd on Anna, before Freya had only really seen a hardened, scowl-factory of a warrior whose main redeeming feature was her vendetta with a cat.

She was snapped out of this curious trance when she heard chanting that was not far off, unlike the tunnel this chanting was loud and strangely melodic. Freya left the painting to investigate further, when she peaked round a large archway it dawned on her just how deep into the palace she had come. Over a dozen green-robed people were kneeling with their heads bowed before a throne, chanting to a very bored looking Elsa. The same anxiety she felt in the tunnels shot back so quickly it was almost dizzying. It was her; she looked no different than in the painting Freya had just seen. She was slouched back into the throne, leaning on her hand and tapping her fingers impatiently. The room had banners with Arendelle's symbol draped down either side of a low-key throne, a wide chair made of ice with spherical designs at the end of the arm-rests. The insignia was etched into the floor and there was a large opening onto a balcony that overlooked the entire city. It was a large space with little else in it.

Elsa perked up when the robed one's chanting stopped and they raised their heads. She stood and waved her hand, blue beams hitting the chests of those before her.

"Thank you divine," they said in unison.

"Back to the halls of the frozen with you," Elsa said. Her voice was powerful and demanding. They all bowed and filed out. Whilst Freya made sure she was behind the archway it took very little effort to avoid the attention of these people as they shuffled away in various directions. Another man's voice spoke up out of the throne room after the robed ones were gone.

"You should really stop indulging those fanatics," Elsa turned to face whoever this was. Freya peaked out again to see a grey-haired man holding parchment and a quill.

"They're loyal Sebastian and since you insist on having no ice-warriors within the city walls to appease those squeamish masses it's a trait I value highly," Elsa said.

"They're lunatics, most end up dead from these little rituals of yours as it is," he said.

"But the ones that survive…" she said.

"Are horribly disfigured?" Sebastian interrupted.

"Are strong and unwavering, if a majority of them have to die to achieve that then so be it" Elsa continued.

"The unstable fanaticism and human sacrifice thing they have going on doesn't exactly scream "stable bodyguards" to me. Half their captives escaping makes me fear for their competence," he said.

"We both know you're wildly exaggerating the number of those who manage to escape and of those that have only two have survived," Elsa said glaring her eyes at him and raising a glowing hand.

"Don't give me that. I'm an advisor, I'm advising," he said.

"People have died for less than your current attitude," she said.

"If I become anything other than vital to this empire then kill away," Sebastian said, he scratched away at his parchment. "But until you find someone else who can keep the nobility and the correct people happy you're stuck with the "not murdering me" option," he continued.

"I'm untouchable and I am the divine," she said. "And I've made it clear to you many times I couldn't care less if they start fighting each other instead," she got this comment in before Sebastian could cut in.

"Never underestimate the gusto of a disgruntled aristocracy, oh divine one," he said whilst doing a slight mocking bow. Sebastian's comments spelled out to Freya Anna's importance, she should have worked this out before. If all they needed was a strong fighter with knowledge of the palace Jasper would have launched the operation months ago when they were at full strength. The reason they were ready to move on this almost instantly, the reason they had waited whilst other resistance cells were hunted down was not one of cowardice, but one of lineage. Anna was the only legitimate heir to the most powerful seat in the world. If no-one could fill that spot, the surrounding kingdoms and those under Arendelle's rule would destroy each other vying for power. Everything would collapse in on itself as everyone would try to claim the scraps of the fallen empire with the innocent caught in the middle of it all. All this time Hans and Jasper had been caught in the dilemma of Elsa's death actually causing more harm than her reign.

Freya was jarred harshly out of her train of thought when she heard the Empress' voice.

"Did you see something over there Sebastian?" she said.

Freya whipped her head back; she had got lost in thought and left her head poking out from the archway. She could hear Elsa's soft footsteps against the ground. Freya looked around frantically, there was nowhere good to hide in the short amount of time it would take Elsa to cross the room. Elsa's fanatics had been absent-minded and more importantly not looking for anyone specifically, the archway provided too little cover to use this time. Freya bolted to the closest bridge, she looked back to see Elsa's foot emerge from behind the corner. Freya dropped down, hanging on to the edge of the bridge as it was the only place directly out of sight she could go. She had no way of seeing what was going on above her now, all she could do was listen to the soft footsteps of the Empress. She had slowed down, the taps getting closer one by one.

Freya's hands were beginning to ache but she could ill-afford to pull herself back up. Elsa appeared at the doorway of the bridge; Freya would have to wait for Elsa to cross into the next spire before she could pull herself up to run in the opposite direction. Elsa passed Freya's hanging spot, though it was a short bridge Elsa was going at an agonisingly slow pace, moving her legs in a very smooth and deliberate motion. Each placed step was tortuous to watch as Freya's fingers were wearing out. After an eternity Elsa reached the other side of the bridge, Freya was alarmed when Elsa stopped moving as she reached the doorway at the end of the bridge. Elsa then swivelled one hundred and eighty degrees and leaned on the doorway. Elsa looked right at her, cocked her head and said.

"You're a bold one."

Freya looked down, then at her hands, then at the Empress. There was only one option. She let go. She figured she could work something out on the way down. As she fell backward her first thought was to try and spin around so she could at least keep a lookout for a solution to the predicament she was in. Before she could do this she hit the ground, this was much sooner and less fatal than she anticipated as she had not fallen for long at all. She sat up and found herself atop a rising platform of ice. Any pain she felt upon falling onto it was immediately negated when the platform stopped rising and she was face to face with Elsa.


	12. Chapter 12

"Well?" Elsa said. Time had stopped for Freya, she went over everything in her head as to how she ended up under the direct scrutiny of the uncaring demi-god. She was unsure what to say and was too scared to speak as it was. Elsa was still leaning in the doorway, her gaze similar to that of Anna's before she had the fight Anton, analytical and contemplative. Freya felt even more isolated as she was sat on this pedestal of ice that Elsa had caught her with.

"Who are you?" Elsa asked. Freya remained silent, her brain told her to speak, to spin a story but her mouth failed to respond.

"The prospect of killing you is rapidly getting more interesting than talking at you," Elsa said.

"Freya," she blurted out, "my name is Freya." As she said this she knew she had to calm down and to treat Elsa like any other person. A simple prospect in theory but the reality was much more daunting.

"So Freya, what brings you to my abode?" she said. There was a sinister aspect to everything she did, even the way she was leaning made Freya nervous let alone how she spoke. Freya took a deep breath, she thought of advice Hans had given her. You can create any persona you like if someone has never met you before, this principal still applied even to the most powerful of beings.

"I… I wanted to see you," Freya said, at least the fear in her voice was real. She was working with what she had by playing the timid girl in reverence of the Empress.

"Is that right?" Elsa said. Freya stayed silent.

"Most people don't run and hide when they want to see me," Elsa said. She adjusted slightly then stepped forward. Freya looked down, unable to look straight at her.

"It's also usually grovelling rather than throwing themselves off a bridge," Elsa said.

"I didn't think I was worthy of your presence, I just wanted to see you for real even if it was from afar," Freya said, it was the best excuse she could come up with. Elsa let out a single loud sound of amusement.

"Well you managed to get here, you're wearing a rather fetching white cloak and acrobatic enough to choose that ledge as a hiding place. You're more worthy than most of the dullards that devote themselves to me," Elsa said. Freya raised her head back up and held her nerve to look straight at Elsa, disguising her fear as awe as well as she could.

"Most devotees only get far as the palace gates; either that or they get thrown to the worshippers so they can't bother me until they've proven themselves. Yet here you are," Elsa was expecting a response to this but Freya's mind was still lingering on the implication that if Elsa lost interest she would get even less pleasant. The Empress was hardly cordial but at this point she at least did not appear to be violent of angry.

"I'm small and quiet, I just wanted to try and see you, I never thought I'd really get this far," Freya said, trying to sound as sheepish as possible.

"So you snuck all the way through the main palace and to my throne-room unnoticed just to see me," Elsa said, she had gone back to leaning in the doorway. "You aren't the first to want to do that, first to actually manage it though," Elsa said. She moved forward again, closing in on Freya's pedestal. The gap between the bridge and where she was sat filled itself with ice as Elsa offered a hand. Freya stared at this hand.

"Let it never be said I'm not merciful to the loyal," Elsa said. Freya looked up at her, despite everything she could not help but notice Elsa's beauty and her serene face. She had always pictured her differently; more similar to how Anna is now, a warrior's build with a fierce demeanour. She looked back at the hand, every fibre of her being screamed at her not to touch Elsa. Her life depended on every slight action she took and snubbing her certainly seemed like the wrong move. She took the hand. It was freezing to touch, so much so that it caused her to jolt. She struggled to breathe as she was terrified it would offend Elsa, when Elsa did not react to this Freya exhaled heavily in relief. As she was helped up a cold breeze picked up her cloak and it flapped in the wind, she was relieved that in her initial hurry to leave she had forgotten to pick up any weapons. If she had Elsa probably would have seen them after that, she probably caused that breeze herself to check if there was anything hidden underneath. The pedestal shrank away and disappeared as she stepped off it back to the bridge. Elsa than sat down on the edge of the bridge, facing the city below.

"Sit," she said. Freya looked at Elsa's back. She could try and end it here, one push and it could all be over. Freya ignored this instinct and forced herself to think it through. She saw first-hand that Elsa would be able save herself from a fall. She also doubted Elsa would have lasted this long if she was not conscious of who she turned her back to. Elsa was still testing her.

"Sit," Elsa said again with that commanding tone of hers, Freya did not want to test her patience any further. She nervously sat cross-legged next to her. She could feel her heart pounding away in her chest, the devil herself was next to her and all she could do was play along. She relied only on hope that Elsa would refrain from suddenly turning on her or that this was not some bizarre mind-game Elsa was playing to amuse herself.

"The people out there don't understand," Elsa said. Freya looked out to a stunning view, the gleaming city and the white plains stretching out from the walls looked impressive. It was accompanied by a very faint hum of the city's activity below them. In a different situation it would have been calming for her; it was beckoning Elsa to be very reflective.

"The people of Arendelle?" Freya asked.

"Not just them, the whole Empire," Elsa said. Freya knew not to pry any further than she needed too, she wanted to know what Elsa meant but she would probably elaborate. She needed to keep reminding herself to be more patient with her approach.

"Where are you from Freya?" Elsa asked.

"Not far from the city," Freya said, it was better to stay vague and not mention the southern isles.

"I'm told it's hard out there, but they don't understand. I've done what I have to too make this place safer," Elsa said.

"It can be hard out there," Freya said.

"The strong survive, the wily like you survive. Weakness is rooted out so Arendelle can remain strong," Elsa said.

"They blame you for the struggles they face," Freya said, the moment she finished the sentence she realised how big of a risk she had taken. Elsa looked at her, Freya held eye contact. She was as tense as she had ever been but flinching here could mean the end.

"I don't get how they can hate you," Freya said in an attempt to cover herself slightly when she broke and looked away. Elsa looked back out at the view.

"They think of me as a tyrant, their weakness and selfishness drives them to it. I've faced loss, sacrificed so much to make something of this world," she said. Freya found it hard to stomach what she was hearing. Elsa fully believed she had created a better place to live.

"I'm always told I have to pander to the people of Arendelle, officers and the noble houses so the infrastructure of the empire doesn't collapse in on itself. Their easy living is a weakness I have to compensate for if Arendelle is to remain strong," Elsa's fists clenched slightly as she said this.

"You watch over us and keep us safe," Freya said to fill the silence, she hated herself for saying it but it curbed Elsa's anger.

"You're very unique Freya," Elsa said as she shot some icy blasts into the air to create a small amount of snowfall. Shortly after some of Elsa's cultists appeared at either end of the bridge.

"Take her, she's yours now," Elsa said.

"All souls are yours divine, we shall send hers to you in the halls of the frozen," the cultist said, she wore a blue robe, had a claw-like hand and had icy contusions smattered across her body. Elsa saw the shock in Freya's face as she was being taken away.

"You're either very devoted to me or lying through your teeth Freya, I don't really care which as I can't encourage this sort of trespass either way," Elsa said.

"You said I was worthy, you said I was strong," Freya said, shrugging off the hands off the cultist.

"I can't chance that you aren't who you say you are," Elsa said walking back toward the throne room. She turned back one last time.

"Take solace that your death will strengthen the Empire, your sacrifice will improve their loyalty and in-turn my security. So many die pathetic or meaningless deaths, yours will be a noble one now. Goodbye Freya."

Freya's heart sank as she was led away by the robed fanatics. Elsa had decided Freya's fate the moment she saw her, a fate that would be sealed if she was lead back into the tunnels by these cultists. They would show no mercy. A couple of the blue-robed cultists were escorting her through the spires, one in front of her and another following up behind. Elsa had gone back to her lair, now was the only time she could make a move. Simply running was out of the question as she would just end up recaptured. She needed a way to get out that would avoid further cult members and the tunnels, it would also have to be fast enough so she could get out of the city before word from the palace spread to the imperial guards below. As she was lead over another bridge to she saw it, it was goading her to take the chance for her freedom. This was a terrible idea for sure but there was no time to think of anything better.

Freya slowed right down, it was mostly an act but she was tired enough to appreciate the need to do so. The cultist behind her pushed her to get her moving again, Freya purposely fell to the ground from the shove.

"Get up," the cultist said. Freya stayed down, the cultist in front of her turned around and picked her up.

"This is a holy endeavour, you must not hesitate," he said. Freya stood still looking defeated. The cultist who had pulled her up went to grab her with one of those horrendous claws of his. This was when Freya made her move, ducking under the swinging arm and setting off at a full sprint.

"You can't escape the will of the divine," Freya heard as she dashed to one of the spire's walls. Amongst the spoils on display was a tapestry, undoubtedly priceless, that Freya ripped down in a slapdash manner. She made sure she had hold of a couple of its corners in each hand whilst she ran on. The first bridge she came to had the doorway blocked off by another cultist, when she tried to turn back the same cultist that had tried to grab her was stood there with an angry look on his face.

"There is nowhere for you to run," he said. This was not the bridge she had in mind, she had hoped to get a further up the spires but this would have to do. Freya dived off the bridge, tapestry in hands. She was falling fast and there was a brief moment of panic as she failed to get the tapestry in position, but she lifted her arms above her and elation followed as the tapestry caught the air and slowed her descent. She turned her head back as she began to glide and saw the spires were already getting far behind her, she regretted being unable to see clearly the faces of those cultists as they watched her fly away. She pictured a fun mix of embarrassment and disbelief.

She was covering quite a distance; the air whooshed past her ears as her plaited hair and cloak flapped behind her. At this pace she would clear the artwork square and land directly on the frozen lake. She knew to aim for a central section as the islands and paths were crowded. The tapestry was difficult to keep a hold of and she could feel it starting to rip under the pressure. It certainly was not designed with this stunt in mind.

The ground was approaching fast, faster than Freya liked. The tapestry gave and fully ripped where she had been holding it. Luckily it held out to a point where the fall was only a slightly daunting distance, however the hard ice below would make a poor cushion so Freya dropped her shoulder to make sure she rolled when she landed. She just about got into position in time. She hit the ground hard when she rolled, springing up to a baffled crowd of people on the paths around her. Some looked up to see if anything else was liable to fall out of the sky.

The pain in her shoulder was excruciating but Freya knew she had to move on. Taking off her conspicuous cloak was a struggle as her shoulder refused to move. Managing to shake off the cloak she joined and moved along with the crowds. She folded it carelessly, holding onto it with her good arm. Running would draw attention so it was a tense, brisk walk back over the paths of the lake and through the bustling crowds of the outer rings. To her distress she was knocked in the shoulder a few times in the busy streets. The fatigue and pain was intense but adrenaline kept her going. The sounds of the crowds and vendors around her dissipated to white noise as she had to concentrate only on the task at hand, to get to an exit whilst she still could. Her peripheral vision was blurred but the exit gate shone in her sightline angelically. She was holding her bad shoulder and gritting her teeth as she approached. A concerned imperial guard looked at her.

"Are you alright ma'am?" he said

"Fine," Freya snapped back.

"Okay ma'am, thank you for visiting the jewel of the Empire," he said. He would have clocked her as suspicious at the very least and it would not be long before word reached the gates. They would set out to find her soon and there was no way she could put much distance between her and Arendelle fast enough. Once through the gate she stepped to the side, hugging the wall in case of any lookouts above. She was too tired to run so once she was satisfied she was a decent distance away from any gates. Fighting through the growing headache as she dug and pushed away the deep snow beneath her feet, when finished she threw out her white cloak to its full length.

She lay down into the crevice she had created and placed the cloak over herself. The only way to blend into the snow convincingly was to contort her body into the ground as to not create an obvious bump where the cloak covered her. Her shoulder was being pushed into the ground by this position; she had to bite down on her thumb hard to deal with the pain silently. She had no idea how long she would have to stay like this but it was the only option she had. The apprehensive and painful wait for safety had begun.


	13. Chapter 13

"She'll be fine," Anna said. She knew Hans was anxious of Freya's disappearance.

"Maybe it's better this way. Taking an independent stance now, after all we may not come back from this," Hans said.

"And if we do come back?" Anna said. Hans did not answer.

The wait to set off had been agonising, especially for Hans. The moment had finally come and they were on their way to Arendelle. Anna and Hans had headed off first as travelling in one large group would raise suspicion before they got to the tunnel entrances where it would all start. Anna wore a hooded cloak to hide her armour and weapons; Anna's shield was flat enough to just about be hidden to the immediate eye. Han's told her to leave it behind, that she could pick up one of the shields smuggled in prior to the operation's start, Anna had refused.

Although there was a distinct possibility she was headed to her death, Anna was content. She had forgotten what it was like to be truly calm.

"I want you to know Hans, I forgive you," Anna said. She had been debating whether to say this to him or not, her clarity of thought and feeling of finality drove her to go through with it. She wanted to clear any lingering doubts Hans might have had.

"Thanks," Hans said, he smiled. "For what it's worth I regret the man I was."

"People can change, for better or for worse," she said.

"I'd love to take credit, but it's Freya's fault," he said.

"She's a good kid, you taught her well," she said.

"I did what I could. Honestly I don't really know how I ended up looking after her. It just felt right you know?" Hans said.

"So the sociopath had a heart all along," she said.

"Shut up," he said, they looked at each other and laughed. Even after the slight laughter had ended they kept looking at each other. Anna caught herself and looked ahead.

"We still have quite a distance to cover," she said. They continued on to the capital.

"You understand what this whole thing entails?" Hans said.

"I never would have agreed if I didn't grasp the necessary evils I must perform," she said. Hans was checking for any reluctance, a wise precaution. She had hardly shown him she was a stable individual up to this point. His confidence in her to do this was either a testament to his faith in her character or outright desperation. He gave her too much credit if it were the former.

She sneaked a glance at him as they walked, he seemed conflicted. After a few more minutes of subtle glances she saw this was more than just nerves, Hans had remaining unsettled throughout the journey.

"Something you want to tell me?" Anna asked. Hans was looking ahead, distracted by something. He raised his hand to her eye line and moved it forward. Anna followed the hand to see he was pointing at a lone figure off in the distance coming toward them. Hans and Anna kept at the same pace, watching carefully. The figure was moving slowly and clutching their arm.

"Freya?" Hans said, Anna could not tell from this distance, Hans began to run. After a short distance Hans turned around and beckoned Anna forward. When she moved more quickly and got closer it became evident Hans was right. There were large red patches on her cloak and she was clearly exhausted. Hans put his hands on her shoulders, causing Freya to wince, he leaned in close. Their foreheads were touching and he was speaking too quietly for Anna to hear. Judging from Freya's expression it was more of a telling-off than anything else.

"You look terrible," Anna said when she caught up to them.

"I feel terrible," Freya said.

"I'll take a look at your shoulder," Anna said.

"Can it wait? I have to tell you what I saw," Freya said.

"No," Anna said. Freya seemed certain of the importance of whatever it was she wanted to tell them but if she had a lot to recall it would be better to make sure she was not distracted or in a state where she could keel over at any point. Hans stepped aside and looked off into the distance, he seemed vacant. She was surprised he had not insisted on checking her injuries himself.

Anna took off Freya's cloak.

"Let go of the shoulder," Anna said, Freya obeyed. She could see it was off straight away, she tapped it lightly and saw Freya wince again. It was dislocated. Anna put her hands in position, ready to force the shoulder back in place.

"This is going to hurt," she said. Just as she was about to fix it she stopped and thought about what she said, Anna switched her focus to directly address Freya.

"This is going to hurt a lot," she said. Anna started pulling slowly and firmly. Freya was doing what she could to hide how painful it was for her. The gruelling process was shortly over as she heard the shoulder clunk back into place.

"Are you done?" Freya asked, her impatience amused Anna but she still had to concentrate.

"Nearly," Anna said. She ripped a section of Freya's cloak and fashioned a makeshift sling for her.

"Use can use the snow to numb the pain," Anna said.

"Can I…" Freya said.

"No. Where's all this blood come from?" Anna said, inspecting the red patches on the cloak. "Is it yours?"

"What? Of course it's mine," Freya said. Anna realised that she asked that a little too casually.

"Let me see the injury," Anna said.

"It's nothing," Freya said.

"I'll be the judge of that," Anna said as she tried to take a closer look at Freya's bloodied hand.

"I went to the tunnels in Arendelle," Freya said pulling her hand away. The statement brought Hans back into the fold immediately.

"You did what?" he said.

"What did you learn?" Anna asked, immediately forgetting about Freya's hand.

"Why on Earth would you do that?" Hans said before Freya could answer Anna's question.

"I couldn't stand by and watch you risk your lives without at least doing something," she said.

"Later Hans, she might have important information," Anna said.

"I do," Freya said. Anna was increasingly impressed with this girl's pure determination.

"Don't think this is over just because Anna insists we need to hear this," said Hans.

They listened intently as Freya recounted her tale. Anna analysed the practicalities of this information, they would need to wrap up to deal with the temperature in the tunnels. Back when Anna used them they were no colder than any other part of the city. Fighting these cultists instead of ice-warriors was a potential setback as well. The warriors were predictable and simple to fight, the combat prowess of these fanatics could range anywhere between careless flailing to well-trained soldiers. There was also a strong chance the ones in blue had contusions impervious to standard weaponry if it was anything like the time Elsa's magic had frozen her.

It sounded like the tunnel network had expanded but the old routes would still hold up, the problem stemmed from cultists springing out and attacking from new and unknown spots. They would need to move carefully and keep eyes in all directions to account for this. Once in the palace they would undoubtedly face ice-warriors, Elsa would be fully aware of the attack by the time they would get through the tunnels and would not hesitate to create more to disperse throughout the palace and city. The bridges and narrow passageways could at least negate any number advantages if her group was overwhelmed. The city's expansion and construction of the spires were largely underway when she fled the palace but she found it hard to imagine the place Freya had described, the place she was born, raised and had known so well had changed so much.

"So you were in the palace, then you're suddenly escaping the city," Hans said, it was easy to figure Freya had left some details out.

"I may have been given to the cultists to sacrifice so jumped out of a palace spire using a priceless tapestry as a parachute," she said. Anna could not help but crack a huge smile upon hearing this, an action that undoubtedly made Hans' mood worse. It explained the injuries but also put away any doubts that this was the kind of person who could bring the best out of people, it was no wonder Hans had become a better man spending years with this girl. He must have been in two minds, proud and happy Freya was safe, but livid she had run off and done this, as ever his face gave nothing away when he spoke to her.

"Who gave you to the cultists?" Hans said.

"What do you mean?" Freya said, it was a poor attempt at evasion if Anna had ever heard one.

"You said you were given to be sacrificed, who found you?" he said.

"Elsa," she admitted. "We spoke for a bit, she didn't bother to find out who I really was and just threw me to her worshippers," Freya said. Anna was speechless; Hans ran his hands through his hair then rubbed his forehead.

"Go back to Sigmund, get some rest," Hans said, evidently not knowing how to take this news either.

Anna considered suggesting taking Freya back themselves but knew there was no time, also Elsa may be on alert having discovered Freya in her palace so the matter at hand was even more pressing.

"More of us are coming, if you're struggling you can check with in them on the way back," Hans said. Freya looked distraught but was clearly too tired to argue.

"Hold on," Anna said. She took Freya's hand and found the wounds on her thumb, she cleared up the blood around it and looked to treat them.

"Are these teeth marks?" Anna asked. They had cut in deep, it was no surprise how much blood had come out.

"Don't ask," Freya said.

Anna wrapped it with another piece ripped off from Freya's cloak.

"You did good Freya," Anna said.

"Get on your way, Sigmund can treat your injuries further," Hans said. He then leaned in and whispered something in her ear. Anna could not make out what he said; all she could see was that Freya's reaction was of slight confusion. They parted ways, the two of them were watching Freya slowly walk off.

"You didn't have to be so hard on her," Anna said.

"Don't think I didn't notice you making a big show of studying those maps and revealing just enough information for Freya to go and do that," Hans snapped. He was right, she had known Freya would not just leave bait like that, though Anna underestimated just how Freya would go.

"She had a right to fight for this Hans," Anna said.

"So concern for her safety should just be tossed aside?" Hans said.

"I agree she shouldn't be in Arendelle when everything kicks off but doing nothing would have killed her," Anna said.

"Going on that adventure of hers you encouraged nearly did actually kill her," Hans said.

"I saw she was capable and the information she gave us is hugely valuable, we can be that much more prepared because of her," she said. Hans shook his head in disbelief.

"You just don't get it do you? Her life was on the line and you gambled it for your own gain. Ruthlessness seems to run in your family," Hans said. Anna dropped her head down, she had to close her eyes and take deep breaths to prevent herself completely losing it. She understood why Hans was angry but comparisons to her sister were amongst the shortest fuses she had. She managed to let it go, a feat she would have never have accomplished until recently.

"You say I don't get it? I do get it Hans. What you were doing to Freya, putting her down, cutting her off. That's a path she can't take. The feeling of helplessness it creates is a void in your very soul. It's what I've felt ever since Elsa started to turn and if Freya didn't take this chance to make a difference it's exactly what would happen to her. She would be alive, but she wouldn't be living," Anna said. Hans was silent, he must have been blindsided by her sincerity and let it hang for a few moments more.

"I'm sorry Anna. I guess I assumed you'd hardened out of necessity. The kind of person you were, I didn't think anything would ever get you down on such a fundamental level. I never thought your hope would die," he said.

"You don't need to apologise. I goaded Freya, I admit that," Anna sighed. "I shouldn't be angry at you, I'm broken and it's you that has given me a chance to piece myself back together," she said.

"And you wanted to make sure Freya didn't need piecing back together in the first place," he said. They had both stopped walking and were simply looking into each other's eyes. Anna saw Hans the way she had when they first met all those years ago, albeit briefly as she shook the feeling off and carried on walking. She was flustered and unsure how to carry the conversation forward without revealing it, Hans stayed put and watched her move off. Mercifully Hans broke the silence.

"Thank you for looking out for Freya," he said. Anna turned back.

"Gladly," she said. Hans caught up beside her and they walked together until Anna's old home revealed itself on the horizon.


	14. Chapter 14

It was strange being back again, Arendelle was both familiar and alien to her at the same time. They had gotten in easily enough. The guard's lack of vigilance was undoubtedly a result of having the monotonous task of greeting people all day. The city was considerably larger than before, it made Anna wonder just how many resistance cells were residing here. The fact Elsa's aggressive policy was tempered within the walls ironically made Arendelle one of the safer places for a cell to hide in.

For now it was a matter of waiting as inconspicuously as possible, which was easy to do in the crowded city. They meandered their way closer to the palace, allowing time for the others to arrive and check-in. They had passed by several rendezvous areas to let the support know to provide extreme-weather clothing to prepare her group for the temperature of the caves.

Each cell had a different signal allocated to a section of the city, once Anna and Hans were approaching the palace they would signal a runner to launch everything. Jasper and Hans had not told her whatever distinctive features the runners would have but she was assured by them that each cell knew what to look for. It was likely other runners were lying in wait and on the lookout for a signal from previous runners, setting off a domino effect that would spread across the city quickly.

Anna's hood had got her through the gate and was doing a decent job of hiding her face but a few people had noticed the scars.

"I don't think I'll be recognised but we need to get this going sooner rather than later," she said. Anna did not like the idea that a disgruntled citizen would rant about a freak with weird scars in their city for the wrong people to overhear.

"I agree, let's pick up the pace," Hans said. They took a more direct route to their rendezvous point and were soon crossing the frozen lake; she recognised one of their cell members across on another of the islands. So far there had been no obvious hold-ups to the plan. When they approached one of the final islands she saw Hans nod to someone, who then proceeded to move off quickly. This was the start, everything was in place and mobilising, there was no going back. Anna noticed a sculpture as they stepped onto their final island of the lake.

"Hello again sister," she muttered under her breath. The plaque read "Our Empress, generous and caring." Anna ignored any urge to examine it further as she knew they had to keep moving.

Groups of worried looking guards were running through the square in front of them, evidently the first of the resistance's disturbances were kicking off. Hans and Anna kept their heads down as an increasing number of guards made their way past, too distracted by having to deal with actual unrest in a city that had been coddled and care-free for so long.

The tunnel they had chosen was the furthest out of general eye-line from the main city. It was a longer route through to the palace but the safest place to meet before entering. A few were already in place when Hans and Anna got there, they were greeted by Anton. Anna noticed that Nat was staring nervously at the exact spot the tunnel entrance would be revealed.

"We'll wait a few minutes more," Hans said. More arrived as they waited, one dropped a pile of extra weapons, cloth wraps and gloves on the floor. The chaos in the main city must have been building significantly if he was able to get them up to the meeting point unnoticed. Anna shrugged off her cumbersome cloak and wrapped up her face and hands. She was already an extra layer under her armour, wrapped as thickly as she could get away with without hindering her ability to move easily. The others did the same with the exception of Nat, who wore only light armour and was barefoot. Anna watched Hans, he was not covering his face and picked up a crossbow from the weapons pile and slung it over his shoulder.

"That won't be useful in the tunnels," Anna said.

"It pays to be prepared," Hans said. Anna did not follow up, Hans would fight however he wanted to fight even if she was certain his sword would see a lot more use than the crossbow. There were eight of them in total waiting outside the tunnel, no sign of any others who were probably caught up in other parts of the city as the distraction was in full swing. Smoke could be seen rising from various sections of the city and there was a faint cacophony of the havoc happening far away from them. With each passing moment the chaos would get closer as more cells would cause disturbances further up toward the palace over time.

Anna refused to make the same mistake she had at the farm and made sure to learn the names and backgrounds of the people in the cell when they were waiting back in Sigmund's. She did not get much at all out of Anton and got nothing useful from Nat, however the others were a bit more forthcoming. Tobi, Silvio, Faith and Edgar stood with them. Tobi's entire family had been killed by a drunken imperial officer when he was young, his hatred of the empire was deep rooted and he made it abundantly clear he still saw Anna as the enemy. He was putting duty over personal issues for this; Anna held no grudge as this man had every right to hate her. The other three were friendlier toward her. They were people who saw the empire for what it was and wanted to fight back. Silvio had lived in Arendelle his whole life before turning it away to stand up for what was right. They were good people, better people than she was, who had come together against the Empire over the years whilst Anna wandered selfishly trying to drink and fight her own problems away.

"We can't wait any longer without risking exposure," Anna said, weary of the heightening volume of the disturbances. Once she was sure everyone was prepared Anna twisted the mechanism. The moment the entrance slid open, two green-robed cultists armed with two short-blades each flung themselves at the group. They must have been waiting there from the beginning of the operation, Elsa's paranoid influence trickling down to her most devoted subjects. Edgar was struck down immediately by the surprise attack, taking two swords to the body. The other had dived at Anton, ever vigilant he had blocked with his shield and countered with a stab to the chest. The remaining cultist stood over her victim, swords in hand. She had leapt past Anna in her attack, as a result of this she was behind this cultist. Her sword was still sheathed so Anna grabbed the cultist and threw her up against the jagged rock wall which disorientated her for a moment. A moment was all Anna needed as she pulled her forward, put her hand on the cultist's forehead and slammed her head back hard into a particularly jagged section of the wall. The initial impact almost certainly did enough to kill her but Anna pulled her back and carried out one more forceful slam for good measure. Her victim lifelessly slid down the wall. Anna looked down at Edgar.

"We have to move, now," she said.

"Anton and Nat are taking point," Hans said. Anton stepped forward; Nat had picked up the cultist's curved short-blades and moved with him.

"Watch your footing and stay vigilant," Anna said to them all. The remaining seven of them moved cautiously in formation. Anton and Nat were at the front, Anna in the centre with Hans immediately at her side whilst Tobi, Faith and Silvio covered closely behind. The three were beginning to struggle as they side-stepped and back-peddled on the slippery floor. Anna had cut grooves into the soles of her armoured boots to help her stable footing and balance. The dark section of the tunnel was quiet. It made Anna uncomfortable with the lack of activity especially considering how they had been greeted at the tunnel entrance. Almost as if the place read her mind the words "intruders, heretics despoil the halls," thundered through the caves.

"Stay in formation, we can't afford to be caught off-guard again," Hans ordered. More shouting echoed around, these cultists were not small in number and they were angry. Freya had mentioned they don't even enter the palace unless directly summoned, so at least they were the types to immediately run at them rather than inform anyone in the palace itself of the intrusion.

Several cultists appeared, Nat dashed forward wildly allowing Anton to capitalise on the confusion and uncertainty her fighting style caused. Hans had clearly thought out the formation well as the first cultists fell, but more were emerging from all directions. The three behind them were working effectively at covering them. It pained Anna to stay there and let them do all the fighting but she knew the importance of her role in this and not to risk her life for the overall goal. It was increasingly hard for her to stand defensively instead of taking the initiative and attacking.

The disorganised nature of the cultists allowed the group to make steady progress along the route. The occasional cultist dodged the defensive lines but it was nothing Hans and Anna could not handle. She realised she had never actually seen Hans fight properly; it became obvious he had downplayed his ability in their travels as he dealt with any threat with incredible ease. The nature of their advance all changed when the cultists wearing blue arrived. They were fast, sprinting over the ice as if it were like any other stable surface. One attacked Tobi, he defended himself from the flurry of quick attacks thrown at him but when he tried to attack back his sword was caught by the ice-blue claw of the cultist. The cultist then crushed Tobi's blade in his claw, shattering it as if it were made of glass. The cultist grabbed and threw him away with such force that he was unable to keep hold of his shield. Out of formation and defenceless he was quickly killed by some green-robed cultists who had followed up the initial attack.

The blue robed cultist continued straight at Anna, she prepared herself to fight but Hans stepped in front of her. He carried no shield, just a single sword with the crossbow still slung over his shoulder. The cultist swung at him with that hideous claw. He swapped the sword to his left hand as he slipped the swing. Hans placed the sword to block the cultist's arm from swinging backhand. Hans then elbowed the cultist in the nose with his free arm, it was such a vicious strike Anna almost felt the impact herself. The stunned cultist then quickly had Hans' sword through his neck. Hans then moved on to help Faith and Silvio sure up the rear defence.

Anna turned to see Anton and Nat struggling to hold the line as well. A cultist had injured one of Anton's legs and he was struggling to keep up with the constant attacking, there was only so much Nat could do to compensate. He was only a few meters away and Anna could stand idle no longer. She was about to move forward but she sensed movement beside her. Instinctively she raised her shield as another blue-robed cultist jumped at her from a side-tunnel. The force of the attack on her shield and lack of friction in the ground made her slide back a short distance. She did manage to keep her stance and saw that Anton was only seconds away from being overwhelmed completely. Anna figured how to use the terrain to her advantage. The cultist yelled out as he wound up a mighty swing at her. The telegraphed strike allowed Anna to prepare. She rocked back then launched herself forward onto her knees. She tilted her head back, her acceleration giving her the momentum to slide under the cultist's claw. She felt the air rush past, narrowly avoiding the swinging claw. She hit the cultist's legs with her shield hard as she slid. It knocked the cultist to the floor and slowed her down enough to spring back to her feet stably right behind Anton as she blocked what would have been a fatal strike for him from another cultist. This sudden block from nowhere threw the cultist off-balance making it easy for Anna to finish him.

She caught a glimpse back as she assisted Anton further. Silvio was down and she saw Faith take a sword to the back. Hans ducked back and spun to keep all his foes in front of him now he had no support. Anna thought to help Nat as well but getting near her was too dangerous as she was a tornado of blades, even the most dedicated fanatics showed reluctance to attack her. Hans was forced on the retreat as he fought three cultists at once, artfully avoiding and parrying attacks, even took one down, as he backed up to Anna, Anton and Nat's position.

"We can't keep this up," Anton shouted amongst the fighting. "You and Hans make a break for it," he said.

"We're not leaving you," Hans said.

"I'm not going anywhere with this leg and I doubt anything could pull Nat out of this fight," he said. Anna could see that was truly in a frenzy. There was no time to dwell on the decision.

"Go," Anton said. Anna and Hans looked at each other, Hans gave a reluctant nod.

"Thank you, old friend," Hans said.

The two moved off as quickly as the unforgiving ground could let them as Anton worked around the wild Nat, occupying every cultist that emerged near them. The thinning numbers and the problems caused by Nat and Anton gave Hans and Anna a relatively clear path. The occasional cultist still emerged but Anna timed her strikes whilst sliding along the ground so lost no speed whilst dispatching those that stood in their way.

Their dash to the end of the tunnel was successful. They had made it through and they were so close to the heart of the empire. They made their way through the quiet towers. There were no guards, cultists or ice-warriors to block their path here.

"Why's it so empty?" Hans asked.

"Who knows how my sister thinks anymore," Anna said. Each tower they went through was a stark reminder of what Elsa had become, emitting her presence in a way that weighed heavy on Anna. The trophies and twisted ice intertwined with the structures being signs of the Empress' descent. All of this was expected, Anna drove onward without dwelling with Hans close behind. It was the painting that stopped her dead in her tracks.

Elsa had had the painting commissioned on Anna's birthday. They had to delay it for a few days as Elsa was too ill to pose for the thing. She tried but she was sneezing so much she could not stay still, each time creating odd little snow creatures. Anna looked after her that night, back when Elsa was kind and warm-hearted. She smiled at the memory. It was so pleasant at the time, not knowing then that the power to create such things would twist Elsa and do so much damage to the world. She reached forward and touched the damaged side of the painting where her hand had been.

"Kristoff was beside me in this," she said, looking up at the girl she once was. Hans had not followed her up to the painting, he was giving her space and time to process what she was seeing. After a few moments he spoke.

"You said you intended to marry him, were you engaged?" Hans asked.

"No, we talked about it but I said I couldn't go through with it until I knew Elsa was okay," Anna said. She closed her eyes and bowed her head. "We can't afford to waste time," she said.

Hans probably wanted to say more but she moved off quickly, cutting off any chance for him to ask anything else. Distracted by what she had seen, Anna crossed another bridge and through a doorway into another spire inattentively, she was snapped back to reality when a wall of ice was erected behind her blocking the doorway. Hans had not caught up and was on the other side of this wall, she was on her own.

An icy blast detonated near Anna's feet sending her flying forward. The way she hit the floor moved her facial coverings down over her eyes. She whipped them off as quickly as she could and drew her sword. She propped herself up on one elbow with the sword pointed toward her adversary, this was to no avail as the other woman was standing too far away to inflict any harm to. Anna watched her arms drop and the glow from her hands gradually dissipate.

"Anna? Is that you?" Elsa said.


	15. Chapter 15

Anna thought she would not get this far, that the tunnels or the city would end her journey. Yet here she was, in the heart of the empire and her sister staring at her from across the room. She had lost any hope at the element of surprise and if Elsa had any immediate aggressive intent it would have been over already. Anna lowered the sword and used it to prop herself up, getting up slowly as the effects of Elsa's initial attack were still disorientating her. Once stood, she dropped the sword. It had been so long since she was here, witnessing the lands around become corrupted and harsh in her time away. Elsa had allowed this to happen, been an active part of it all. No more compromising, she had to hear what Elsa had to say for herself.

Elsa had remained still and said nothing as Anna had regained her bearings. Anna was now simply looking back at Elsa. Despite everything, on the surface she looked exactly like she used to. It was the demeanour that had changed and behind that calm face a fire was raging. She was clad in lightweight armour, it must have been a precaution taken from the attacks below. The armour itself had been tinted pitch-black with the imperial markings etched in gold. They shone as any modicum of light reflected off in a glorious manner. Its strength would be fit for an Empress and the lack of gauntlets freed her hands for any magic she would want to throw around. Even in her battle-armour Elsa managed to look serene.

The silence between them spoke louder than any words Anna could think to say. Elsa walked to the balcony overlooking the city, smoke was rising from below and the faint sound of shouting and clashing swords cut through the air. Anna tracked her sister as she went to look down at Arendelle, she leaned her elbows on the railings and just watched. Anna cautiously moved beside her and took in the same scene.

"I could do something about this, come down hard on all these insurgents. I must admit though I wanted to see what it would lead to, how the city would handle it," Elsa shifted her weight onto her other elbow. "I mean it's not like there was anything to lose that couldn't be replaced, in fact I invite the unexpected these days. Now here you are sewing chaos in your wake and standing beside me, unexpected indeed." she said.

"It was the only way guarantee I could get this far," Anna said. Elsa sighed, she touched Anna's face.

"Look at you, so different from the sister I knew. You could have walked up to that gate and I would have welcomed you back with open arms. Despite what's happened here it's good just to see you again," Elsa said. Anna found this all hard to process having imagined dozens of scenarios and played through so many conversations in her head. Elsa had come at her with an attitude Anna was in no way prepared for.

"You don't know what it's like out there, it changes you. I've had to become something I never wanted to be," Anna said. Keeping calm was a struggle but it was the most effective way to hear Elsa's real explanation for everything and probably the best method to avoid a pre-mature ice-based death.

"That life was never meant for you Anna; you were supposed to stay here with me where it's safe. Nevertheless you have come back stronger," Elsa said.

"Stronger? I've had to fight and kill every day to survive. The only way to get over everything I've lost, everything that's happened, was to mentally detach myself from it all. When that inevitably failed I drank myself into a stupor and took it out on any poor sap that got in my way instead," Anna said. She was losing composure quickly. She moved her hand out of Elsa's sight beside herself and clenched her fist to try and alleviate some of her anger. Elsa made a single, quiet sound of amusement.

"Loss? I nearly killed you and then spent years cooped up in that room for everyone else's safety. Then when Mum and Dad…" She tailed off and sighed. "In one fell swoop I went from a prisoner who was a danger to world to the one who was in charge of it all, the witch-queen of Arendelle. Then Olaf and Sven die such meaningless deaths. Constant war plagues us, then after everything we'd gone through you abandoned me. I've had nothing left for years so don't lecture me on loss." Elsa said.

"I didn't abandon you. I had to get away from what you've done, I couldn't be with you seeing this world you've created…" Anna said.

"It's easy to criticize from the side-lines Anna, that's all you've ever needed to do. I've had to carry the burden of protecting our home, our friends." Elsa interrupted. "After the thaw I ignored my responsibilities, Weselton attacked and I hesitated, stood by as people died. That's when I realised I had to use my gifts to protect Arendelle, protect the few people I had left. When you ran I didn't try to stop you out of some need to put you down, I did it for your safety. It's why I didn't push hard on the search when you did escape, if word got out you weren't in the palace anyone could have tried to find you, tried to hurt you," she said. Anna stopped leaning she stood up fully.

"Everything you did back then, everything you've done since. Why did you never talk to me about this before" she said, her temper was rising. Elsa was not even mentioning the act that drove her out.

"I did it for you Anna, all this was so I could protect you. I couldn't let you be taken from me by some surprise attack or some accident travelling to another kingdom. My power was given to me to keep you safe. I made Arendelle a paradise, I hardened the surrounding populace and crushed our enemies so there was no way to lose you," Elsa said. Anna could no longer contain herself, she walked away from Elsa's side.

"For me?" Anna said and pointed at the throne "or for that?"

"You have to believe me Anna, I kept this from you because I knew you'd protest and say you weren't worth it," The tension was rising and Anna's patience was wearing thin. "Even when you were gone I continued this legacy, hoping you would see reason and come back to me," Elsa said.

"And Kristoff, that was for me was it?" Anna said. She was stood at the foot of the throne, fists clenched and teeth grinding. Her breathing was becoming increasingly heavy as she stood in a wide aggressive stance. Elsa lost her serene expression at the mention of Kristoff's name, her eyes squinted and she attacked her words with vigour.

"He was turning you against me. Those ridiculous creatures he calls his friends drove us apart once, I was never going to let that happen again," Elsa said.

"He wanted to help you," Anna said.

"He wanted to help himself. Everyone else had been taken away from me and his actions were the last straw, I couldn't stand by and let him influence you any further," Elsa said.

"Kristoff didn't drive me away, you did that yourself," Anna said.

"You just don't understand, I had the power to keep you safe and you ran from it," Elsa said. Anna abandoned any premise of keeping calm, this was too much.

"You've lost your mind Elsa. Justify away but I know what you are, a paranoid tyrant that's used me as an excuse to carry out deplorable acts," Anna said.

"No," Elsa said, her hands glowed briefly as she said it. "You naively criticize me when you know nothing of responsibility. Your use of power is no different, you throw this resistance at the city just to get to me. Also that young girl who was here earlier, one of yours no doubt," Elsa said.

"You have to be stopped, your madness is destroying everything," Anna said.

"One day you'll see everything I've done was for your own good, even Kristoff" Elsa said.

Anna could not take any more of this, she charged at Elsa. She had no sword, she had not even bothered to unmount her shield from her back. She threw her armoured fist as hard as she could toward Elsa's face. Elsa ducked it easily, Anna followed up carelessly with another swing. Elsa blocked it with her forearm and pushed Anna back.

"I don't want to hurt you Anna," she said. Anna ignored her and charged forward again. It was like an out of body experience as she acted without discipline, acting only on her anger. Elsa was avoiding most attacks or deflecting Anna's fists down harmlessly as they clanked against Elsa's armour. Anna was tiring and her punches were getting even more reckless as she flailed at her sister.

"Anna, stop." Elsa said catching Anna's slowing right fist.

"Never," Anna said, she was past the point of caring. A wall of ice shot up behind her. Elsa forced Anna's hand back into it and froze it in place.

"You're giving me no choice," Elsa said as the ice spread to the rest of Anna's arm. Elsa let go of her and stepped back, unable to hide the sadness in her eyes. Anna tried to move her arm to no avail, she turned to Elsa.

"I hate what you've become," she said.

"You'll forgive me, in time," Elsa said.

"As long as you still breathe, none of us are safe," Anna said. It surprised Anna that through all the cruelty and every ounce of morality seeming to have left her over the years, Elsa was visibly hurt by her comments. Elsa was now silently watching her. Anna could only look back in disgust as she was stuck to the ice wall, struggling to break free. However her helplessness was short-lived when she saw a familiar face peer round from the doorway, it was Hans. He must have gone back around and found another route to throne room whilst they were talking. Elsa was facing away from him; all Anna had to do was keep Elsa's attention toward her.

"Elsa, I just need to know one thing," Anna said. Elsa rubbed the bridge of her nose and approached her. Anna saw Hans lining up the shot from his crossbow in her periphery. She made sure to keep her focus on Elsa as to not give him away.

"What is it is sister?" Elsa said. Hans fired. Elsa had unknowingly moved at the last possible moment as she shifted to move closer to Anna, the crossbow bolt ricocheting off Elsa's shoulder plating instead of into the back of her skull. Elsa turned to address in this event.

"Oh there's another one" she said. With no hesitation she summoned sharp icicles from the ground, puncturing Hans' body in multiple places. Anna's usual unwavering disposition was truly rocked by what she saw, Hans was groaning in pain as any movement aggravated the numerous puncture wounds. Elsa recognised her attacker and turned back to Anna, fury in her eyes.

"You align yourself with him? This is the man who tried to kill us both. The crimes he committed are unforgivable and you throw that all away to get at me?" Her sadness had turned to anger in a heartbeat. Anna looked on in horror as drips of blood trickled down the icy shards lodged into Hans.

Hans fought through the pain as he pulled his arm out of one of the giant icicles and tried to reload the crossbow still in his hands. He was fumbling and every move he made was a struggle. Elsa cackled at this display from a dying man. She flamboyantly opened her arms out, enjoying every moment of how the scene before her was unfolding.

"I'll even let you have this shot" she said. It was difficult to watch as Hans failed multiple times to get it right. Several bolts were dropping to the floor as the punctures took their toll. He stopped, breathing shortly and sharply, trying to ignore the icy daggers digging into him.

"I'm getting bored, how about some incentive Hans," Elsa said. She walked back to Anna and put her hand on the trapped arm. The extreme cold set in and Anna cried out. The pain spread through her entire arm. She wanted to stay strong, to encourage Hans but the torture was too much. Her vision was blurring but she could see an invigorated Hans redoubling his efforts. He finally got a bolt in place, lining up a shot as well as he could with the icicles sticking through him. The pain subsided as Elsa took her hand away to a more defensive position, ready to do whatever she deemed necessary to protect herself. He veered slightly as he pulled the trigger. The shot sailed past Elsa who had held her ground without had even flinching.

"That's the best you have?" Elsa said. One final icicle shot from the ground, piercing the centre of his chest. Elsa's smile faded as Hans got in one final smug grin before going limp. Elsa stood there confused.

She must have felt the sudden sharp pain as she rubbed her neck, confusion turned to shock when she looked down at her red hand. Hans had not missed. His bolt had planted itself into the ice wall near Anna's free hand. She had ripped it from the ice and plunged it deep into Elsa's neck. Elsa fell to her knees, staring at her dripping hand. Her hand then dropped as she struggled to stay conscious. Anna ripped her trapped arm free from the ice with surprising ease this time. She ignored the ice's sudden weakness and moved over to her fallen sword, then over to Hans to close the eyes of his inanimate body.

Elsa was struggling to keep her eyes open and was gently rocking back and forth. Anna stood over her, grabbing her by the hair to keep her upright as best she could. Her arm was still numb from Elsa's magic but she managed. Elsa looked up at her with wide, unblinking eyes. She had been dribbling blood and spat out the amount that had built up in her mouth. She struggled to speak.

"Anna… I…" these were the only words Elsa managed before Anna drove the sword through Elsa's breastplate with all her might; the blade went straight through the armour and into her heart. The sword froze instantly and shattered as Anna pulled it out, leaving only the hilt. Elsa fell forward to the floor, it was done. She dropped the hilt and walked over to the balcony, looking up to see black clouds subside and the sun truly shine down on the land. She closed her eyes and for the first time in what felt like forever, a warm breeze whisked across her face.


	16. Chapter 16

It had happened in a flash, she had barely taken it in. She was surprised at just how easy she found killing her. The sun's rays were a comfort to her as another surprise sank in. The surprise of how heavily Hans' death was weighing on her. He must have known there was a minute chance she would be fast enough to use the bolt on Elsa before she could end him, but it was the best chance to take her down. His final act of noble sacrifice proved just how much he had changed, that he had been genuine since they met in that tavern.

Another warm breeze gently brushed her skin, it was then Anna opened her eyes and realised she had to act. There was no time to mull over why the clouds parted and why the temperature was rising. The tower she was standing in and all its counterparts had ice as significant parts of their structures. The temperature had risen so rapidly that it was only a matter of time before the lack of structural integrity brought the building she was standing in tumbling down. Anna turned and looked at the aftermath of the recent events. Elsa's body lay motionless, she felt no regret as she stepped over it to get to Hans who was still propped up by the icicles that had killed him. She wanted to free his body so he could have a proper burial, he had earned that much. Despite the numbness in her arm still residing it took little effort to break him free. She slung the punctured body over her shoulder and headed to the front of the palace. There would be no secret tunnels, no fighting, just carrying a man who deserved some peace in death that he never received in life. She had to pick up the pace as the ground beneath her was starting to show cracks and the stone loosened with every step she took. The bridges between the towers were also rapidly decreasing in reliability.

Each trophy from the conquered territories that was left behind just accentuated the ultimate futility of Elsa's actions. The legacy she had worked to build came crashing down into the mountainside, tower by tower. Despite some close calls and a few precarious leaps, Anna made her way down to the old palace. It was taking a beating from the falling debris of the collapsing towers but it was holding firm. Once clear Anna placed Hans on the first table she could find, she leant her hands on it to catch her breath and looked down at him.

"Why'd you have to go and do that Hans?" she said. She kept looking at the man she knew and could no longer hold in her frustration. She slammed her fist down on the table. She was briefly distracted from her turmoil when the table broke in half, Hans' body falling with it. She picked him back up to find somewhere else to place him. Once she had carefully put him onto another table further down the corridor she turned her thoughts to what just happened. The furniture was not fragile enough to be wrecked that easily. She waggled her fingers and clenched her fist, despite still having almost no feeling in her arm everything seemed to be working normally. She removed her gauntlet to reveal a hand and forearm made of ice, the rest of her arm was still covered but she feared it would be a similar sight. So far it seemed, much like her facial scars, that temperature had no effect on it.

"Anna, what happened?" She was so preoccupied she had not realised someone had appeared behind her, she quickly slipped the gauntlet back on and turned to see Jasper.

"How did you get up here?" Anna said.

"I've got our remaining fighters keeping the palace secure, I was searching for any clues for what happened when I heard a lot of clattering from somewhere near here," Jasper said.

"A table… never mind. What about the imperial guards?" Anna asked.

"When the clouds parted everything outside just stopped, everyone's in a state of shock, guards included. The whole city is at a stand-still. Does this mean you did it? Is Elsa dead?" he said.

"She is, Hans died to make sure it was possible," she said. Jasper's explanation seemed over-simplified, she was sure Elsa's death alone could not cause the permanent winter to dissipate, something else was at play. Jasper stepped forward and put his hand on Hans; he closed his eyes and bowed his head.

"Who's this?" another man said. Jasper turned away, stopping what he was doing in the process.

"I could ask you the same thing," he said.

"I'm Sebastian Lindstrom, chief advisor to the Empress and unlike you, I'm supposed to be here," he said.

"Shouldn't you have been in towers?" Anna asked.

"Why yes Anna, but when the rioting started the Empress demanded to be left alone," Sebastian said. Anna was taken aback, he had recognised her instantly.

"Don't look so surprised, I've seen pictures of you around here every day for two years now. Not to mention the fact the Empress talked about you all the time," Sebastian said.

"Well I…" she began. Sebastian cut her off.

"It's not your sudden appearance that I'm concerned about. It's this man and the dead prince from the Southern isles that's particularly out of the ordinary," he said.

"You know who this is?" Anna said.

"So many inane questions, it's my job to know who the significant people in the world are. Granted I can't remember which one that is, there were so many in that family that all their faces to start to blend into one," Sebastian said, examining the corpse.

"It's Hans, he killed the Empress. In her dying moments she made sure that he wouldn't live to celebrate it," Jasper said. Anna did her best not to react badly to this telling of events and took the time to contemplate Jasper's motives as he spoke with Sebastian.

"So this man just goes ahead and kills the most powerful person in the world. On the same day Anna reappears no less?" Sebastian said.

"He had a certain vendetta against these two if I remember rightly," Jasper said. Sebastian stroked his chin.

"Luckily for you most people are missing the important facts to debunk your story," Sebastian looked at Anna. "Don't worry though. I'll make sure our little assassin's coronation goes smoothly."

Anna squinted at him.

"You're awfully calm about this," she said. Sebastian shrugged.

"My loyalty is to the Empire, not the Empress. She was such a detriment to the smooth running of everything anyway. Luckily for all of you, I'm very good at what I do so managed to keep it all together," he said.

"So you don't have a problem with what you believe to have happened" Jasper said, still not confirming Sebastian's accurate perception of events.

"We both know if people think Anna had anything to do with Elsa's death there'd be far too many challenges to her heirship, otherwise you wouldn't have just tried to lie about it." He started to move off.

"If you'll excuse me I have a lot of organising to do and a cohesive narrative to spin," he said, he then chuckled. "Very savvy of you to pin it on Hans though, the believable motive and skill-set should work nicely." He then left promptly, with a slight spring in his step.

"Strange man," Jasper said.

Anna looked at Jasper, down at Hans, then back to Jasper.

"Hans was always going to be the fall guy wasn't he?" Anna said. Jasper sighed.

"From the very beginning yes, it was his when we first started forming the resistance," he said.

"How very convenient for you that he died," Anna said. Jasper shook his head.

"For both our sakes I'll pretend you didn't say that, we planned for him to go into hiding after this. He knew his role, at first he was happy to be the one to take credit for Elsa's death but as he grew more reluctant he still stuck to it for the greater good of everyone. He was a good man and my friend," he said. Jasper turned away and bowed his head again. She knew she was on edge and had reacted unfairly. There was an entire city outside paralysed by confusion, her hand was frozen over and the man who granted her closure, possibly even began to love again had been killed by her sister in front of her very eyes. It was hard to think clearly with it all. The way Hans was acting on the journey and the way he treated Freya recently made sense to her now though, he wanted to distance himself, push Freya away as he knew he would be disappearing one way or another. Anna was angry at herself for only just considering Freya now. She would be distraught if she saw Hans like this.

She backed up against a wall and slid down it until she was sat on the floor. The warmth of the weather was starting to take its toll as well; she pulled down the long neck of her shirt as her attire was for the freezing tunnels below. Jasper gave her a concerned look.

"Did Elsa attack you?" he asked.

"What makes you say that?" Anna said.

"Part of your neck, it's iced over" he said. Anna's eyes widened, she needed to check if the ice was taking hold or spreading.

"I need to go," she said. Jasper seemed content to let her work through it, even if he did not understand what it was or the urgency required.

"I'll go find that Sebastian guy, see what it is he's actually doing right now," he said.

Anna rushed to where her room had been. She found it, went in and closed the door behind her. Nothing had changed. Elsa must have wanted it preserved this way.

She looked in the mirror and saw the ice scarring from her face had expanded to her neck and continued under her armour. She took off her layers as fast as possible, with the exception of the shield mounted on her back which she leaned carefully against the wall. She was now only in her undershirt and leggings. Her entire right arm and shoulder was ice, it had spread up to her neck and joined with the scarring on her jawline. She stared at herself, looking for any signs of further spread or melting. The minutes passed by and there was no sign of change, the numbness was still there, she wandered if it would ever go. Elsa had found one last way to make her mark, even in death. Anna barely noticed the time go by as she diligently watched the ice engrained in her body. She was only startled out of this trance by a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" she said.

"Freya," was the response from behind the door. Anna considered sending her away or making her wait until she could cover up her arm and neck. She let these thoughts go when it dawned on her that hiding away was exactly what Elsa had done to her all those years ago.

"Come in," Anna said. Freya entered, closing the door behind her.

"That's new, are you okay?" Freya said upon seeing her.

"I have no idea but it seems to be alright," Anna said. She sat down on her bed and looked straight forward, it was an excuse not to look Freya in the eye. She seemed far too chipper to have known what had happened.

"How did you get here so fast?" Anna said. She felt in no way prepared to tell Freya Hans' fate.

"I met Jasper on the way back, he was much easier to convince to let me come with him to the city," Freya said.

"He let you fight?" Anna said, Freya was still wearing that sling she made her.

"He made me wait outside the city limits and I made a promise to stay out of the main fight anyway. When the sun came out and all the noise stopped I figured it was over. I was able to walk right on in," Freya said. She sat herself next to Anna and looked around the room. "This place is so much nicer than the towers," she said.

"How exactly did you find this room?" Anna said, cursing her luck that Freya had found her before she could have regained her own composure.

"That advisor guy recognised me as "the one who ruined that ugly tapestry." I didn't even realise he had ever seen me." Freya said. Anna was noticing how astute Sebastian was, she would have to keep a close eye on him.

"Anyway, when the towers came crashing down I wanted to see if you were alright. He told me this was probably where you'd be so directed me to this room. Judging by your arm and the sunshine I'd say you had a run-in with your sister," she said.

"She's dead," Anna looked at the floor. "And I don't know why the sun is out," she said.

"That can't be easy," Freya said.

"I miss the woman she once was, but I don't think that was same woman who died up there. I don't know if it's even sunk in yet, I doubt it ever truly will," Anna said. Freya seemed unsure how to respond as she just made a vague sound of acknowledgement. There was a silence between them, the urge to tell Freya what had happened was nagging away at Anna. She had faced a horde of rampaging fanatics, confronted her sister and her arm was no longer flesh and bone due to perverted magic. Yet dealing with Freya felt like the most nerve-wracking thing she had to deal with today.

"I haven't seen Hans yet, I take it he hung back with Jasper to co-ordinate the city attack," Freya said. Her attempt to change the subject made is to so much worse. Anna had to say something, keeping secrets was what lead to Elsa's downfall. She refused to make the same mistake. Anna exhaled, it was now or never, she contemplated taking hold of her hand before talking but refrained as Freya would know something was off if she did that. Anna faced her, looking her in the eyes for the first time since she came in.

"Han's was with me when we went to find Elsa," Anna said.

"Oh. Where is he then?" Freya asked with no hint of suspicion in her voice.

"He didn't make it," Anna said. Freya's face dropped.

"He died making sure we could succeed, making sure it wasn't all for nothing," Anna said, unsure whether clarifying that would make it better or worse. Freya was quiet at first, she looked away.

"He did what he had too. The resistance owes him, we all owe him," Freya finally said. Her face was straining and her voice cracking. She was doing everything in her power to stop herself from crying. Even now she was trying to be steadfast in the face of tragedy, blaming no-one and trying to justify and detach from Hans' loss. The way she was trying to hold back the tears just made it more devastating to see. It went against every lesson she had learned for the past three years but Anna hugged her, being careful with her right arm as she did so. The sun shone brightly through the window as Freya buried her face into Anna's shoulder, she was sniffling away and breathing heavily.

"I'll miss him too," Anna said.

They were embraced, neither speaking. Anna thought of everything she had lost and all she had done. Her friends gone, Kristoff's execution, losing her home and spending years witnessing the depths people sank too to survive the harsh environments of the Empire. She blinded herself to it all by hiding away with fighting and drinking. Hans had swooped in and lifted the veil for her giving her new purpose and even in the short time they had been reunited, he had made a lasting impression. Now he was gone as well. As for Elsa, she had been through so much with her and managed to help her when her powers first went out of control. But just when Elsa was back to her old self, she began to crumble again. All of Anna's attempts to pull her away from the path of madness came to nothing and in the end it was her who had to put Elsa out of her misery.

"You've lost Elsa, I've lost Hans. We have to look out for each other now," Freya said. Anna had lost everything, even her sister. But maybe, just maybe, through all this she had gained another.


	17. Epilogue

Freya was shuffling through the crowd. The city was a bit of a maze now reconstruction was so far underway. The lake melting back to its usual state and the reduction of the city walls added to the cramped feeling, especially now so many had come to Arendelle today. The Sun felt blazing, it was not a particularly hot day but she was still readjusting to having real seasons again. It had been a gradual process though; the resistance had always thought Elsa's death would revert everything back to normal immediately but that was not to be.

A few days after the spires came down the troll creatures Anna had mentioned emerged from the mountain. As they were basically rocks they had been sturdy enough to survive the fall, Freya had had lengthy a debate with Anna whether they technically counted as part of the rubble or not. They failed to reach a conclusion as neither would budge on their stance. Either way, the trolls were dazed and confused when Anna went to meet them. Anna recalled events as best she could for them after they had been frozen and hidden away by Elsa in one of the far towers. The trolls had answers for her too; Anna's recent magical condition was hard for them to miss after all. Freya did not exactly understand the whole magic thing but Anna explained it to her as best she could. The lead troll examined Anna's face first. It had been partially healed in Corona, despite the troll calling it shoddy work it ended up saving her life. When the ice from Elsa's attack joined with the scars, the dormant magic keeping her face together overrode the spread, stopping it completely. The magic had resided in her for long enough for some of Elsa's power to be transferred to her as well. This was how Anna explained it any way, in honesty Freya thought Anna knew just as little as everyone else but just hid it better.

The abilities she gained were explained to her by the trolls. They nowhere near as potent as Elsa's had been but it allowed her to gradually roll back the permanent winter across the Empire. It was a slow process though and there are still a lot of areas still currently stuck in winter. The process for Anna is physically and mentally draining so Freya would do what she could to keep Anna's spirits up. This was helped by the fact to lift the winter away, Anna would have to enter a meditative state and in her words "think loving thoughts." It forced a more positive outlook on life for her, if only for a few hours a day.

The coronation had been a few months ago now, Freya kept making Anna almost laugh at the worst possible moments during the ceremony. Freya did a poor job of behaving as seeing Anna in a fancy dress was funny enough, let alone the fact she had made no effort whatsoever to hide her iced arm, shoulder and face. Some of the onlookers were gawping away, some literally with jaws hanging open.

It was nice to see breaks in Anna's steely attitude as being the Empress was a demanding job. Apart from Freya misbehaving every now and then, Anna's time as Empress was going as smoothly as it could have considering the circumstances around it. Sebastian really was scarily good at dealing with nobility and peasant alike. He was setting up diplomatic meetings, mediating treaty negotiations and generally putting down problems before they even arose. Freya would occasionally sneak a peek into these things, it was mostly boring talk about reparations or transferring back power of a region into Lord whoever's hands. Anna would always be fidgety during these meetings but diplomacy was her job now and Sebastian kept her in check whenever she looked particularly impatient.He would also keep her away from anything violent or to do with the military saying "it would only encourage her." Freya had to smooth that one over by convincing her that keeping away would help her deal with the remaining pockets of Elsa's winter.

The cleaning up was therefore left to Jasper, using the remaining resistance to keep some form of order in the city whilst the imperial guard is recalled and reformed. As for the army of ice warriors, once the news of Elsa's death had reached out across the world, most simply gave up and let the sun melt them away. Contingents of the more independent thinking ones had done what they could to retreat to the mountains, Anna had ordered for them to be left alone as they had only been pawns in the old Empire's actions. Freya had watched crowds of them walk by in the distance, masses of the things doing their best to stick to cold spots so they could make their journey to the mountains where it was cold enough for them to survive. Despite the menacing appearance they were quite docile now, acting similarly to a herd of quiet animals without Elsa's corrupting influence. Jasper arranged a constant watch near their known locations to be sure that they would stay away from any settlement borders. Anna had now ended the winter in most areas surrounding the mountains so most of the year it was too warm for them to try anything anyway.

Jasper had also led a mass search of the tunnels to round up any remaining cultists. He had not said a word to Freya when he came back out of them. Anna later told her what had happened down there from Jasper's report. Besides the chilling atmosphere dissipating a few cave-ins from the towers falling, the remaining cultists destroyed the frozen and then committed a ritualistic mass suicide. They must have been lost without their divine. The bodies of those that fell defending Anna had been collected, but Nat's body was yet to turn up anywhere despite thorough exploration and mapping. Nat had remained an elusive mystery to the very end. Freya wanted to help Jasper through everything, the tunnels took a toll on him and he was a little sterner in general since Hans had died. Anna told her to leave him be, he needed time and was burying himself in work to get away from it all.

Freya had stuck around in the palace and intended to stay, she probably would have done regardless as there was nowhere else for her to go. She liked Anna and Jasper, even Sebastian's dry wit was growing on her. However Hans was the reason she would stay for good. She will never forget his last words, whispered in her ear on the way back from Arendelle.

"You're the best thing in my life, but now I need you to help Anna for me." She had not questioned it at the time, too weary to give it much thought. Anna had vowed always to be honest with Freya so finding out exactly what had happened to Hans was no struggle. Even if he had survived he would not have seen her again, at least not for a long time. She resented it at first, that Hans was the stooge and had no plans of taking her with him or even telling her about it. Over time though she realised it was his way of looking out for her, that he wanted a normal life for her as opposed to being hidden away. He knew if given the option she would have gone with him. Or maybe it was just because in the end he thought Anna needed her more than he did. She never did learn to fully read him, she would never truly know.

If anything she was able to mourn privately with Anna, which until recently was all she could do. Publically Anna could not endorse regicide, she had argued with Sebastian numerous times about honouring Hans properly. He had always refused until unrest amongst the workers and peasantry regarding Hans had reached boiling point. Eventually Sebastian caved when Anna convinced him giving Hans a small memorial would help quell the resentment the Empire had garnered amongst the people.

A monument had been erected today, not far off the palace entrance. Thousands had gathered to pay their respects to "The hero of the Southern Isles." Freya had been out exploring outside the city and lost track of time for when it was unveiled. She still got a kick out of the fact snow was no longer everywhere and underestimated the number of people that would flock to the city. Sometimes she would just lie in grassy fields and enjoy the blue skies. Anna would join her on the rare occasions she could get away from Sebastian and the palace. Lying out there was her favourite pass-time second only to pestering Anna when she was supposed to be working.

Anna was in the palace meditating whilst this was all happening. Even though she instigated the memorialisation, Sebastian's condition for letting the memorial be put up was that she could not be seen mourning the man who killed her sister at the risk of raising red flags amongst the nobility. Staying away worked toward the timid shut-in type Anna was doing a poor job of playing. Everyone still thought she had been hidden in the palace all these years and only emerged because she had no other choice. Due to all this Freya was wandering the city alone, trying to make her way through the crowds to see Hans' memorial.

She overheard various conversations as she slipped through any gaps she saw, hearing how one man stood up to a god in the name of freedom. The others who fell on that fateful day would silently be remembered by the knowing few.

Slowly but surely she worked her way through the city, eager to see what these people had all gathered for. When she got through to the front she saw it. It was a single black column, in the middle Hans' name was etched in gold with the insignia of the Southern Isle's beneath it. The column was surrounded by wreaths, flowers, letters and various trinkets that had been left by all those who owed him so much. However Freya was blinded to everything put down honouring him, as one particular object grabbed her attention. To everyone else it was just another object of respect. It leaned on the base of the column in the centre of all the pieces. It was a battered, but familiar shield.


End file.
